


I'm Following The Map That Leads To You

by fiftyshadesofstony



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Cap_Ironman Big Bang 2015, Depictions of Surgery (c-section), Drinking, F/M, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Steve Rogers, Omega Verse, Rimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 21:32:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5307602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiftyshadesofstony/pseuds/fiftyshadesofstony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All alpha Tony Stark wanted to do was make amends with his coworker, Steve Rogers, and maybe build a new friendship, starting off on the right foot. He had no clue that lending a helping hand when the omega needed it most would lead to a life changing consequence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is. Here is the story that I have spent the better part of the last five months working on for this years Big Bang! I'm beyond excited to get to share not only this story with the fandom, but the amazing artwork that both of my artists created! I wanted to thank both [Wiredoll](http://wiredoll.tumblr.com/) and [Pearl_Unplanned](http://starlight-thefirecat.deviantart.com/) have created. So without further ado, I give will leave you all with my story, and the lovely artwork that it inspired!!!
> 
> Art by Wiredoll: (coming soon)
> 
> Art by Pearl_Unplanned:  
> Cover Image  
> [Steve and Tony in bed](http://starlight-thefirecat.deviantart.com/art/I-m-Following-the-Map-that-Leads-to-You-In-Bed-574018997?ga_submit_new=10%253A1448742536)  
> Scarf  
> [Chibi Steve](http://starlight-thefirecat.deviantart.com/art/I-m-Following-the-Map-that-Leads-to-You-Chibi-574018984?ga_submit_new=10%253A1448743516&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1)  
> [ Sketch](http://starlight-thefirecat.deviantart.com/art/I-m-Following-the-Map-that-Leads-to-You-Sketch-574018976?ga_submit_new=10%253A1448742605)

Steve stood on the busy sidewalks of New York, right outside of his office building, having to remind himself to breathe in and out.  
  
It had been six years since he had first joined the Vision Creative Firm. He spent his first three years interning, before he graduated and was promoted to senior designer for the graphic design team. That meant that it had been three long, excruciating years since he started working with fellow senior graphic designer Tony Stark, aka the biggest asshole in the entire universe.  
  
There wasn't a day that went by without Tony rejecting, challenging or downright mocking Steve's design ideas. It seemed to be all in good fun at first but as time went on, Steve grew tired of always having to fight Tony on literally everything. He tried more than once to bring this behavior to the attention of his supervisor, Coulson, but he would always brush it off saying "you two are big boys, you can figure this out on your own".  
  
Steve's way of 'figuring it out' was to just ignore Tony completely, but it only took half a day to realize that that definitely wasn't going to work. It was after that, that Steve settled on the 'kill him with kindness' approach. Being overly nice to Tony seemed to work well enough, so it stuck. Though being as nice as possible seemingly made work easier, it pained Steve to bite his tongue at some of the brunet's comments. So he found himself here, where he started work every day, trying to breathe evenly while reminding himself that he wasn't allowed to murder Tony, no matter how desperately he wanted to.  
  
As he walked into the building, Steve smiled widely at their front desk girl, Darcy.  
  
"Mornin' Darcy," he said giving a small wave. She leaned forward, resting her head on her hands as she began to bat her eyelashes.  
  
"Well hello Mr. Tall, blond and sexy! How was your weekend?"  
  
"It was good," Steve answered, glossing over Darcy's early morning flirting. "I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for what's ahead of me."  
  
Darcy smiled, knowingly. It was no secret that Steve and Tony didn't get along. Most people attributed it to their genders; Steve being an omega, while Tony was an alpha.  
  
Society and evolution had changed a lot about how alphas and omegas interacted. Thanks to several movements in favor of treating omegas as equals, it had been centuries since omegas felt the instinct to be blindly submissive in the presence of an alpha. And thanks to the continued use of suppressants, heats had changed as well. Though suppressants were still used to mask the scent of one's heat and to alleviate some of the side effects, heats only lasted a day or two and were much more manageable to get through without having a mate.  
  
With all that said, most alphas and omegas could coexist peacefully, with the exception of Tony and Steve. More often than not, people just assumed that Tony was adamant on asserting his dominance, while Steve was adamant on asserting his position as an equal. Neither ever wanted to budge on their ideas, and it always came down to their team pleading with them to agree to compromise. It was a tough way to work, but together, Steve and Tony created some of the most amazing graphic design concepts their clients had ever seen.  
  
It was this fact that kept Steve coming back. For all the grief and stress working with Tony gave him, he really did love his job, his team and the work they did together.  
  
Walking to his desk, Steve found a hot cup of green tea waiting for him. He smiled, knowing exactly who left it there.  
  
"Nat, if you want something, just ask," Steve said taking his seat. Natasha, one of the graphic design team members, and one of his best friends, popped up from her desk to smile at him.  
  
"I figured I'd butter you up first before asking."  
  
"That is a pretty solid way to get what you want," Steve answered, sipping the tea and taking a moment to savor the sweet taste that rolled over his tongue.  
  
"Well, you sweetened this with honey for me, so now I know you're really desperate for me to agree to whatever you have to say. What do you want?"  
  
Natasha bit her lip for a second, considering whether or not she really wanted to ask, but gave a sigh when she finally decided to go for it.  
  
"Look, the whole team is going to Tony's Halloween party and we want you to come too."  
  
The small smile Steve had on his face fell immediately at the invitation.  
  
"No," Steve answered, sternly.  
  
"But Steve--"  
  
"No buts, Nat. First of all I'm pretty sure it's against company policy to party with your supervisors,"  
  
"You literally bought me four shots at the bar last Saturday," Natasha deadpanned.  
  
"Regardless, I don't want to go to some party at Stark's, and have him get all drunk so he can be an even bigger asshole."  
  
"Oh come now, I'm not that bad once I've gotten a few drinks in me."  
  
Steve froze immediately, realizing who was standing right behind him. Without looking, he began to stumble through an apology.  
  
"Stark...Tony, I...I am so sorry," Steve offered, face turning red. Tony just waved him off and gave a smirk.  
  
"Oh please, Steve, give it a rest. I know I'm a pain in your ass. To tell you the truth, I was wondering when you were gunna give up on the whole "kill him with kindness" shtick cause you're a lot more fun when you're sassy. Anyway, the whole team is dressing up as the kids from Captain Planet and they all want you to be the Captain. So, what do ya say?"  
  
Steve gave Natasha a weary look as he considered his answer. Truth be told, Steve hadn't planned anything for Halloween, mainly because he worked with all of his friends and they were going to Tony's party. Steve looked up at the brunet, and internally cringed at the cocky smile on the man's face. Everything within him screamed that this was a horrible idea, yet Steve found himself giving a half assed smile before saying "sure, sounds like fun."  
  
Steve spent the rest of the day, astonished by how polite, easygoing, and cooperative Tony was all of a sudden. He assumed that this behavior was a direct result of his agreeing to go to the Halloween party, but Steve honestly didn't know if he should feel grateful for the change or terrified. 

\---  
  
“So, let me get this straight, you’ve done nothing but bicker with this guy for three solid years, and now you’ve invited him to your Halloween party? Why?” Rhodey asked, not bothering to look away from his work.  
  
Tony just plopped down on his best friend’s desk, popping open a soda can as he thought over his answer.  
  
“I mean...yeah we don’t get along, mainly because he’s the most stubborn person ever --”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure _he’s_ the only problem here…”  
  
“--but we needed someone to go as Captain Planet, and I won’t sit here and pretend that I’m not excited to see what he looks like all dressed up. He’s hot, he’s just aggravating as all hell.”  
  
Rhodey finally looked up at Tony as he slowly took a sip of his drink.  
  
“Tony Stark, you are something else, you know that?"  
  
"If by something else, you mean a literal gift from God, then yes, I am something else."  
  
Rhodey laughed off his friend's comment as he went back to work. Tony took a look around the desk beneath him and considered the items decorating the surface. The one thing that stood out most was a picture frame with a picture of Rhodey and his girlfriend Carol at the beach. Tony smiled to himself, feeling happiness for his friend paired with a weird feeling he'd learned not to dwell on.  
  
Though he didn't have any close friends who were married, most everyone Tony knew had found their bond mate. In this day and age, once you found your mate, that didn't mean rushing right into marriage and starting a family. It meant you had a sense of security and stability, knowing this person was the one for you.  
  
Tony liked to pretend that he was a lone-alpha, and that he was fine without anyone. But he sometimes wondered what it would be like to love someone so fully that he could feel it in his bones. Almost as soon as that thought would pop into Tony's head, he'd immediately shake it off. He knew that there were some people in life who weren't meant to find their bond mate and he was almost certain he was one of them.  
  
"Are you just going to sit on my desk looking pretty all day or are you actually going to do something useful?" Rhodey asked, flicking Tony in the arm.  
  
The brunet gave a weary smile as he hopped down from where he sat.  
  
"I don't see why I can't look pretty and do something useful, but I suppose I'll go do both at my own desk."  
  
"Atta boy," Rhodey replied, now becoming fully immersed in his work. As Tony walked away, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the dull thrum of loneliness he felt. 

\---  
  
“I seriously cannot believe she got you to go,” Bucky said, shaking his head in disbelief. Steve shot his friend a death glare, wiping the smile right off of his face.  
  
“I was practically cornered, ok? Your girlfriend tried to bribe me with tea and honey, then Stark came over and essentially guilted me into saying I’d go. Now I have to or else I’ll let the team down. Ugh!”  
  
Steve dramatically threw himself face first into Bucky’s couch, and began to sulk. The more he thought about this Halloween party, the more worried he became. Tony had never extended an invitation to one of his holiday parties before, so why now? Steve didn’t want to think so little of his colleague, but a big part of him was terrified that this was all a plan for Tony to embarrass him in some way.  
  
“Listen, you need to be less paranoid, alright? Tony’s arrogant, cocky and a pain in the ass, but he wouldn’t invite you to this party just to enact some elaborate scheme to embarrass you.”  
  
“How...how did you know that’s what I was thinking?” Steve asked, suddenly raising his head to look at Bucky in disbelief.  
  
“I’ve been your best friend for twelve years, Steve. At this point it’s not that hard for me to decipher what you’re saying when you mumble into a pillow.”  
  
Steve felt his face grow warmer as he realized he’d verbalized what he had intended to be his own private thoughts.  
  
“Ok...well, I still just don’t trust it.”  
  
“No one’s asking you to trust it, just show up and have fun. Quit being such a stick in the mud and just enjoy yourself for once.”  
  
“No. I want to be miserable forever,” Steve said, finally sitting up, and frowning in Bucky’s direction.  
  
“As long as you actually show up dressed as Captain Planet, you can do whatever you want with the rest of your life.”  
  
Steve wanted to give Bucky the finger, but there was no use in the gesture. He knew that there was no getting out of this party so he had no choice but to just grin and bear it.  
  
“I guess...I can try to have a good time...or whatever,” Steve finally gritted out. He rolled his eyes at the look of faux excitement on Bucky’s face.  
  
“There ya go, was that so hard?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Well deal with it. Now that that’s settled, we can finally go shopping for your costume.”  
  
It was with that statement that Steve decided he was going to give this costume 100%. If he was going to be forced to go to this party he at least wanted to be the best looking Captain Planet anyone had ever seen.  
  
\---  
  
Today was the day. The Halloween party had finally arrived, and Tony was running around his house frantically trying to make sure everything was in order.  
  
“Are you _sure_ that we have enough drinks for everyone?” Tony asked his friends, nervously. They all looked back at him in slight confusion.  
  
“Tony...are you serious?” Carol asked, wearily, “You have three full size bottles of Grey Goose per guest, not to mention you practically bought out all of New York’s alcohol supply.”  
  
“So...what you’re saying is I should have gone with four bottles of vodka per guest, and dipped into New Jersey’s supply of alcohol as well?”  
  
Carol threw her hands up in defeat, as she walked out of the kitchen. Tony had been an absolute wreck in the few weeks leading up to his Halloween party. He spent every free moment he had trying to make sure that there wasn’t a single forgotten detail, and when asked about his behavior, Tony would always laugh it off.  
  
“Well _excuse me_ for trying to throw a great party for my friends,” he’d say in his normal witty tone.  
  
But those closest to him, those who recognized that tone as a defense mechanism knew that something was up.  
  
Once Carol wondered off, Rhodey exchanged a quick glance with Pepper before following his girlfriend, leaving Tony and Pepper alone.  
  
“Tony, hon,” Pepper said gently, as she placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder, “why don’t we go outside for a minute, hmm?” she asked, guiding him towards the back door.  
  
The two sat down on the patio steps, relishing in the crisp fall air, before Tony let out a deep breath.  
  
“Look, I’m really good at fucking things up,”  
  
“Tony…” Pepper interrupted.  
  
“No, Pep, hear me out. I am really good at fucking things up. I know that 364 days of the year, everyone just tolerates me...some more than others. But this is my chance to redeem myself, so everything has to be perfect."  
  
"You know, you could try apologizing to him," Pepper offered.  
  
"What?" Tony asked, confused.  
  
“If you like Steve so much, and his opinion of you is that important, why don't you just start treating him nicely instead of bending over backwards to impress him with this party?” Pepper asked with a knowing smile.  
  
“Who said I liked Steve?! I never said I liked Steve!” Tony answered, frantically.  
  
“You didn’t have to say anything. How long have I known you, Anthony Edward Stark? You don’t think I would have noticed how hard you’ve been trying to make sure that everything is perfect for when Steve shows up? Clearly, you’ve got a thing for the guy.”  
  
Tony ran a hand over his face as he let Pepper’s words settle on him. He remembered back to the day that he overheard Natasha inviting Steve to the party. Steve didn’t want to come, mainly because he didn’t like Tony, and yeah...it hurt like hell to actually hear the blond say it. He had wanted to right things with Steve for quite some time but had never figured out the right way to do it. Tony figured if he could find a way to get Steve to come to his party, maybe he could fix things between them. Not actually expecting that plan to work, Tony went into overdrive trying to make sure nothing screwed up his chances of getting in Steve’s good graces.  
  
But as hard as he tried, and for all the planning he did, he’d always remember one thing: no matter how perfect the party is, he’ll still be Tony Stark. He would still be a professional at fucking everything up. It was that thought, that realization that he couldn’t run away from himself no matter how hard he tried, that caused him to overcompensate.  
  
_If I could just find some way to make up for my assholeishness, mabye then Steve won’t hate me_  
  
The brunet thought day in and day out. He’d never actually taken the time to digest any of these thoughts and feelings (because who really has the time for _that_ much self reflection), until now. However, realizing that Pepper was right and that he, in fact, did have a thing for Steve, was something Tony just couldn’t handle.  
  
“Look,” Tony said, clearing his throat and dusting off his pants as he stood, “I’ve got to go get ready for tonight. The guests will be arriving in half an hour.”  
  
Pepper looked up at him with a sad smile, but nodded anyway. He knew she was just trying to help, and quite honestly he was grateful for it. Tony had been running from a lot of things for a long time, but she was always there to make him face things head on. This, though, this was something Tony wasn’t even sure he could take on. 

\---  
  
Steve sat outside in his car, waiting for what felt like the right moment to go inside. He’d been sitting there for a solid fifteen minutes, but no matter how badly he wanted to get up to go meet his friends, he couldn’t shake the feeling of nervousness that seemed to overtake him. He initially had his reservations about attending Tony’s party but once he decided to just accept his fate and roll with it, he’d actually become excited to reveal his costume and spend quality time with some of his favorite people. But there was still something nagging at him, telling him that this might not be a good idea.  
  
Steve jumped at the sudden sound of someone knocking on his window. He looked up to see Sam, dressed as the Earth planeteer, smiling down at him. Steve rolled down his window and gave a weary smile up at his friend.  
  
“So...you’re aware the party is inside the house, right?” Sam asked, around a laugh.  
  
“Ha, yeah I just...yeah,” Steve offered rubbing the back of his neck.  
  
“Is everything ok?” Sam asked, now concerned.  
  
“Uh...yeah, I was just taking a minute before I came inside.”  
  
“Ok, well do you want me to wait out here with you?”  
  
“No, I’m fine...really. Thanks, though. How bout we go inside?” Steve asked, stepping out of the car.  
  
Sam looked at him, still worried, but shrugged off his concerns and turned to walk inside. Steve followed suit, internally trying to calm his nerves. The pair of them stepped up to the door, Sam taking one last look back before opening the door.  
  
“Well would you look who I found,” Sam said, addressing the room.  
  
It seemed as though everyone stopped to look Steve over, and he began to feel self conscious, taking inventory of his entire costume. Instead of wearing a blue bodysuit and a green wig, Steve opted to paint himself blue and use temporary green hair spray. Most of his body was on display, thanks to the red short shorts and red crop top he wore. Steve worked hard for the body that he had, and he usually didn’t mind showing it off when the occasion called for it. But in hindsight, with all eyes on him, he really wished he’d figured out how to cover up a little better. Just as Steve started to wish he were anywhere but in that room, he heard a gasp and looked up to see Darcy dressed as Wonder Woman, with her mouth agape.  
  
“Wow...well hello Captain tall, blond and sexy!”  
  
Almost immediately, Bucky began to laugh at Darcy’s nickname. Within seconds, the entire room had erupted in laughter, and with that the party got underway. Steve could barely go five minutes without someone asking him about his costume or wanting to take a picture. While he did enjoy all of the praise and excitement over his costume, after a few hours, Steve found the attention draining. Once he found a moment, Steve decided to look for a quiet place he could possibly sit for a while.  
  
As Steve made his way through the house, it dawned on him that he hadn’t really seen much of Tony all night. Aside from during their group photos, Tony was seemingly busy entertaining everyone who wasn’t Steve. The blond didn’t know why that fact irked him the way it did but after all the fuss over him showing up, he figured Tony would have at least said hello. Steve tried not to think too much about it as he made his way up to the main level of the house and out on the back deck.  
  
From where he stood, Steve could see over the others, sitting around the fire pit in the backyard, roasting marshmallows and drinking. He smiled to himself, watching those who mattered the most to him having such a good time. He breathed in deeply, as a gust of wind swept over him, and looked up at the sky. Steve became mesmerized by the stars in the sky, but was startled when he heard the sound of someone opening the porch door. He turned quickly to see who it was, and was greeted by a sheepish wave from Tony.  
  
“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it,” Tony said, taking a few steps closer. Steve stood there, silently as the brunet came to overlook the party beside him.  
  
“You know, I used to love Captain Planet, but never in a million years would I have thought I’d be standing here in my twenties dressed as the Heart planeteer. It’s just weird because he was arguably the most useless team member, and I’m arguably the most useful team member at work.”  
Steve let out a laugh at that, earning himself a faux astonished look.  
  
“Excuse you, what was that laugh?!” Tony asked, trying to sound offended.  
  
“It was a laugh of disbelief! You, the most useful member of the team?! I’d beg to differ.”  
  
“Oh really?” the brunet asked, placing his hands on his hips, “well if not me, then who?”  
  
Steve gestured in a sweeping motion down his torso before answering, “I’m not the Captain for nothing.”  
  
The two looked at each other for a moment, before breaking off into laughter. Steve took the time to look at the man beside him, and felt a strange surge of affection when he noticed the way Tony’s nose crinkled when he laughed. Steve looked away almost immediately for fear of being caught staring.  
  
“So, what are you doing up here all alone, Cap?” Tony asked, turning to lean on the deck railing, resting his elbows atop the wooden surface.  
“Honestly...I just needed to breath. I’m not used to having this much attention on me, especially when I’m wearing next to nothing, so it all felt like a bit much,” Steve offered, slightly surprised with how truthful he was.  
  
“Might I ask why the host of such a raging Halloween party is up here instead of hanging among the masses?”  
  
“Honestly,” Tony began, mimicking Steve’s earlier statement, “I just needed to breath too.”  
  
At that, Steve’s interest was piqued.  
  
“I always love throwing these types of parties, mainly because it’s so nice having the house full of people, but it’s a lot to deal with.”  
  
“Why don’t you ask for help? Guy like you has to have a large group of friends who wouldn’t mind lending a hand.”  
  
“Ahh, well...yes and no,” Tony answered rubbing the back of his neck, “I always figure I’m a pain in the ass pretty much every other day of the year, so I might as well throw a party to thank those around me for having to deal with my bull shit. That doesn’t work so well if I also make those same people run the show so I can sit back and relax.”  
  
Steve looked at the man beside him, in slight shock. Tony never struck him as the kind of guy who cared enough about how his actions affected others to throw a party just to apologize for them.  
  
“You know...you could just apologize for being an ass, and maybe try being nicer to people. I’m sure that’d be a lot cheaper and easier than running this whole thing on your own.”  
  
Tony looked up at Steve, and for a moment, the blond stopped breathing.  
  
“So it’s that easy, huh?”  
  
“Well, yeah...just say you’re sorry and stop purposefully making life difficult for the people around you.”  
  
“So all I have to say is ‘I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you’?”  
  
“Yeah, it’s that easy.”  
  
“Okay...I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you.”  
  
“Yep...that’s all you have to say,” Steve offered, attempting to reassure Tony that he had it. The shorter man looked at him for a few moments, as if he were waiting for Steve to realize something. He wracked his brain for what the brunet could possibly be waiting for, and then it hit him: Tony had just apologized to him.  
  
“Oh… _oh_ ,” Steve spoke, turning his entire body to face the man next to him.  
  
“Yeah…” Tony answered above a whisper.  
  
“Tony, I…” Steve started at a loss for words. He stumbled a bit before taking a deep breath and trying again.  
  
“Tony, thank you. I appreciate the apology, and I’d be more than happy to start things over.”  
  
“Really? Even after all the grief I’ve given you for the past three years?” Tony asked, a hint of hope in his voice.  
  
Steve thought over the question. He couldn’t deny the fact that Tony’s seemingly sudden change of character was a little odd, but then he thought about how nice the past few weeks had been with the two of them actually getting along, and wanted that to continue.  
  
“Yeah, really. You're not so bad...for an alpha. Plus Rhodey and Pepper seem like perfectly sane people, so for them to want to be your friend there must be _something_ that makes you likeable.”  
  
“Oh, haha, you’re a real comedian Steve,” Tony laughed, bumping shoulders with the blond.  
  
As the two of them stood on that deck, talking the night away, Steve’s mind kept wandering back to that day, weeks ago, when he first agreed to come to Tony's party. For all the griping and worrying that he did, Steve was finally beginning to think that showing up wasn't such a bad idea after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony sat at his desk, typing away, with a small smile on his face. He sat patiently, waiting for the one regular daily occurrence that he’d come to look forward to. Like clockwork, at 10:30 am Steve popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, with a sheepish grin on his face.  
  
“Hey, what’s your schedule look like today?” Steve asked, as he had every day for the past two months.  
  
“Oh, I don’t have too much going on today. Just have to get through the approvals for the McDowell project, why?” Tony asked, knowing exactly what Steve came here looking for.  
  
“Ok, well I just wanted to know if you were free to get lunch today. There’s a new Thai place close by and I figured maybe you’d like to try it with me.”  
  
Tony had gotten used to this. Almost immediately after his Halloween party, not only had Steve become much more sociable towards him, but he’d begun asking the brunet out to lunch on a daily basis. Tony wanted to be wary of this, at first, because it almost seemed too easy. All he did was apologize for the way he’d acted over the past three years, and Steve not only accepted his apology but made an effort to build a friendship. Tony had never dealt with anything like this in his life, and quite honestly, it just seemed a little suspect. He was used to either wearing people down over time, much like he had done with Pepper and Rhodey, or throwing gifts at people until they at least pretended to like him. With Steve...things were different, and Tony didn’t really know what to make of it.  
  
As Steve stood there, patiently waiting for a response, Tony couldn’t help but notice how good the omega looked wearing what seemed to be his favorite dark blue cardigan.  
  
“Yeah,” Tony finally answered, smiling up at the blond in front of him, “I’d love to try something new. Same time as usual?”  
  
“Same time as usual,” Steve answered with a wide smile.  
  
Tony found himself suddenly a little distracted as Steve walked away. He came back to himself almost immediately, once he noticed Pepper standing where Steve had once been.  
  
“So...it seems as though you and Steve are getting rather chummy,” Pepper said with a fond smirk.  
  
“Whatever, coworkers go to lunch together all the time, it’s no big deal.”  
  
“It is when one of those coworkers has a raging crush on the other!”  
  
“Would you keep it down?!” Tony asked, jumping up to put a hand over Pepper’s mouth as he pulled her into his work space. He could tell by the look in her eyes that he would need to remove his hand very quickly if he wanted to actually keep it.  
  
“Sorry,” he offered, smoothing his hands over her shoulders, “look, Steve and I are just _friends_ , okay?”  
  
“I’m sure Steve thinks as much, but is that all you want to be?” Pepper asked, concern lacing her face.  
  
“Pep, honestly…”  
  
“All I’m saying is that I don’t want you to get hurt. From one alpha to another, I know how hard it can be not being bonded--”  
  
“Pepper, you met Happy when you were 15. You guys have been bonded since you were 18.”  
  
Tony felt himself back down, immediately, at the look Pepper shot him.  
  
“I just don’t want you to set yourself up to get hurt here.”  
  
Some part of Tony wanted to fight her on this. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t like the thought of his friend not supporting the relationship he most definitely wasn’t aiming for with Steve. However, he knew that Pepper was only looking out for his best interest and he couldn’t fault her for that.  
  
“Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine. I took your advice on not being a total asshole and it’s gotten me a new friend, is all. I promise, I’m not up to anything, just turning a new leaf and making work a little more bearable for everyone around us.”  
  
Pepper looked at Tony, skeptical, but finally gave in.  
  
“Alright, as long as you promise that everything is alright, I guess I’ll back off.”  
  
“I promise,” the brunet offered, crossing his heart. Pepper gave him a small nod, and a peck on the cheek before leaving to return back to her work.  
  
As Tony sat at his desk for the next hour or so, waiting for lunch to roll around, he kept asking himself whether or not Pepper really did have anything to be worried about.  
  
\---  
  
Steve spent half of the walk to lunch in silence with his hands crammed in his pockets. Though he and Tony had gotten to know each other over the past couple of months, Steve still felt nervous asking him out for lunch. It started as a good faith gesture, to show the brunet that his previous actions really had been forgiven, and somehow it transformed into a regular occurrence. There wasn’t a single day that Steve didn’t look forward to these lunches, and though all of his friends liked to think it was because Steve was crushing on Tony, it was really just because he enjoyed getting to know the alpha.  
  
“So...I heard it’s going to snow today,” Steve started as they rounded a corner.  
  
“Really? I spend almost every day for the last two months going to lunch with you and you’ve decided to revert back to talking about the _weather_?! I am rather disappointed in you, Rogers.”  
  
Steve looked away, rubbing the back of his neck as he felt his cheeks warm.  
  
“Ah, I mean, you know me. I like to save all the good topics for when we get to where we’re going.”  
  
“Nice save there,” Tony teased, “where are we going anyway?”  
  
“Oh, this place is called Elephant Jumps. I saw something about it on the Cooking Channel and everything sounded great so I figured you’d like to try it too.”  
  
“Well...I suppose a place called Elephant Jumps can’t be awful. We’ll see how you do with this,” Tony responded, in a light hearted manner.  
  
As a gust of wind blew by, Steve pulled his coat a little closer to keep himself warm.  
  
“You cold?” Tony asked, giving the blond a once over.  
  
Steve would be the first to admit he was definitely underdressed for winter weather, but he’d been running hot lately. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t find a way to get comfortable, and he made the grave mistake of only bringing a light jacket.  
  
“Uh...I’m ok, really,” Steve answered, cursing himself for not containing the shiver that made it’s way through his body in that exact moment.  
  
“Ugh, here, take this,” Tony said, stopping to remove his scarf and place it around Steve’s neck.  
  
“Oh, you don’t have to--” Steve tried to protest, when Tony put a hand up to stop him.  
  
“Look, I can’t really have you freezing to death out here. Not only do I not know where this restaurant actually is, but I’m pretty sure Natasha would choke me to death with her bare hands if I let anything happen to you, so just take the scarf, and save us both the trouble ok?”  
  
Steve stood completely still as the brunet finished tying off the scarf. Standing this close, he could smell Tony’s shampoo. The minty scent had a hint of something that Steve couldn’t quite place, but something about the aroma as a whole was extremely comforting.  
  
“If you’re done smelling my hair, I’m getting rather hungry…” Tony spoke slowly. Steve took inventory of their situation and almost jumped ten feet when he realized he’d fully immersed his nose in the shorter man’s hair.  
  
“Oh my god, Tony, I am _so_ sorry,” Steve offered, immediately, “I’ve been feeling off lately, and...well to tell the truth, the smell of your hair was really calming. But really, I am so sorry.”  
  
Tony just raised an eyebrow and smiled up at the blond.  
  
“Honestly, Cap, it’s perfectly fine,” he offered before turning on his heels and walking off in their original direction.  
  
Since the Halloween party, Tony had taken to calling Steve ‘Cap’, in honor of his costume. Prior to that party, Steve would have found the nickname annoying at the least, but now, he found it oddly endearing.  
  
It only took a few more minutes of walking for them to reach the restaurant. Tony opened the door for Steve, and gestured for him to go ahead. The blond gave a nod of thanks before walking in. Once they were seated, the pair of them sat quietly looking over the menu.  
  
“Do you see anything you like?” Steve asked, looking at the brunet over the top of his menu.  
  
“Everything looks good, honestly,” Tony answered, continuing to look over his options.  
  
As they sat there, Steve found he couldn’t take his eyes off of the man in front of him. He noticed that while Tony thought over what to order, he began lightly chewing on his bottom lip. Steve knew he shouldn’t stare, but he just couldn’t look away from the alpha’s lips. Thankfully, Steve shook out of it just in time for the waiter to take their orders.  
  
“Uh...I’ll have the Chicken Panang Curry,” Tony answered before handing the waiter his menu, looking at Steve to give his answer as well.  
  
“Oh uh…” the omega stumbled, realizing he hadn’t actually figured out what he wanted, “I’ll have the Tom Ka Gai soup and a side of Thai spring rolls please.”  
  
“Soup and spring rolls?” Tony asked, around a small laugh.  
  
“Like I said earlier, I’ve been under the weather, so I feel like soup would help. But I also always have to get spring rolls whenever they’re on the menu. They’re my absolute favorite.”  
  
“I’m slightly judging you for the fact that spring rolls are your favorite.”  
  
“Whatever Stark, I didn’t judge you when you told me that your favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla.”  
  
Tony put his hand on his chest and let out an offended gasp.  
  
“Excuse you, vanilla is amazing and it goes well with every dessert.”  
  
“For a man who seems so interesting, I wouldn’t expect you to like the most boring ice cream flavor the world has to offer,” Steve said, giving a nod of thanks as the waiter placed a glass of water in front of him. The second their waiter left the table, Tony stuck a finger in his glass, and flicked it at the blond.  
  
“Hey, what the hell was that?” Steve asked, trying not to laugh too hard.  
  
“That’s what you get when you diss the best ice cream flavor ever,” Tony answered, with a satisfied look on his face.  
  
“Welp, you sure showed me!” Steve stated, rolling his eyes, “Anyway, what are you up to while we’re off for Christmas?”  
  
There was a visible change in Tony’s posture and attitude at the question. Immediately, Steve began to regret asking anything about the subject at all.  
  
“Oh, I uh…” Tony began, “I’m not doing too much of anything really. My family is kind of...all over the place so we’re not really able to get together during holidays.”  
  
Steve gave a look as if to say he was sorry to hear about these circumstances, but Tony waved him off.  
  
“It’s fine, really. It gives me time to relax and work on things I’m generally too busy to do during the rest of the year. What about you, what are you up to?”  
  
Steve looked down into his glass with a sad smile. He wasn’t sure if now was the time to tell Tony about his family or not. Deciding that was a conversation best saved for another day, Steve looked up to direct his smile at the alpha in front of him.  
  
“Oh I’ll be around here as well. I’ve kind of got the same deal as you with my family not really being close by.”  
  
“Ahh, well if you’re up for it, every year I have a get together with Rhodey, Pepper and their mates a few days before Christmas. I insist that we not do the whole gifting thing, but I get them something anyway, and then we each pick a holiday movie and watch all of them. You’re more than welcome to come if you’d like.”  
  
Steve sat there, somewhat taken aback by the invitation.  
  
“Tony, I...that is so kind of you to invite me, but really you don’t have--”  
  
“I know I don’t _have_ to. Us holiday orphans have to stick together, I just figured it’d be something to get you out of the house. You don’t have to come if you’re busy or if you don’t want to, really it’s fine.”  
  
It dawned on Steve as Tony tried to backtrack his way out of this conversation, that the brunet thought he was declining the invitation. As Tony continued to stammer on, Steve reached out to rest his hand on top of the one on the table in front of him.  
  
“Tony, I’m not busy, and I would love to come. Thank you for inviting me.”  
  
The alpha sat there in silence, looking down at the table. Steve followed his eyes to their hands, and immediately drew his hand away, as if he’d been burned.  
  
“I...sorry,” Steve offered, looking literally anywhere other than at Tony.  
  
“It’s fine…” Tony answered, slowly withdrawing his hand from the table.  
  
Neither man said anything as they waited for their food. Once everything arrived at their table, Steve took a deep breath, smelling all the wonderful items in front of them.  
  
“I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled everything,” Steve offered, mouth practically watering looking at the spread. He caught Tony eyeing his spring rolls and smiled.  
  
“I’ll let you have one if you promise never to judge me about my love for them ever again.”  
  
“I’m going to say I won’t but you know I will,” Tony responded, with a half smirk.  
  
Steve just shook his head and rolled his eyes, as he pushed the plate closer to Tony for him to take from it.  
  
“From you, I wouldn’t expect any less.”  
  
\---  
  
Tony sat next to a large window in the corner of his favorite coffee shop. As he watched the people walking by on the street, snowflakes falling around them, he took a sip of his latte and savored the warmth that it brought him. It was moments like this that Tony felt he was truly able to enjoy the world around him.  
  
“Hey shit head, how’s it going?”  
  
Then it was moments like this that Tony remembered why he never stopped to enjoy the world much to begin with. He turned away from the window, to see Carol unwrapping her winter layers before taking a seat in the arm chair beside him.  
  
“You know, when you greet me like that, it makes it a lot harder to understand why Rhodey bonded with you,” Tony answered with a smile.  
  
“And when you say shit like that, it makes it harder for me to understand why Rhodey’s been your friend all this time,” Carol responded, smiling as well.  
  
The two looked at each other, then burst out into laughter. Tony always loved the back and forth he had with Carol. She seemed to be the sister he’d never had, and he enjoyed the fact that she never took shit from anyone, especially from him.  
  
“So, why’d you call me out here this morning?”, Carol asked, as a server brought over her drink. “Must be serious for you to be up before noon on a Saturday.”  
  
Tony chewed the inside of his bottom lip as he thought over how best to answer Carol’s question. Truth be told, he wasn’t even really sure what to think of everything that was going through his mind.  
  
“I...invited Steve to the thing,” Tony practically whispered.  
  
“What thing?” Carol asked, all too confused.  
  
“You know...the Christmas thing.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“A few days ago I asked Steve to come to our Christmas movie hang-out shenanigans and he said he’d love to come,” Tony blurted out.  
  
The second the words left his mouth, he slouched down in his chair. Carol looked at him, desperately trying to understand the current problem.  
  
“Ok, so you invited Steve to the Christmas hang out and he said yes…” Carol reiterated, slowly.  
  
Tony nodded his head furiously, waiting for her to see what he was getting at. When she didn’t, he just threw his hands up in defeat.  
  
“Do you not understand that literally no one other than you, me, Rhodey, Pepper and Happy have ever attended this? It’s a very exclusive event, not just anyone gets invited.”  
  
“And yet you invited Steve?”  
  
“YES! What does that mean?! Why did I invited him?!” Tony asked, frantically, hoping his friend had a legitimate answer for him.  
  
“I dunno, Tony, maybe you have a crush on the guy.”  
  
...any answer but that one.  
  
“You know, Carol, I genuinely wish sometimes you would just tell me what I want to hear as opposed to what you’re actually thinking,” Tony said, with a defeated look.  
  
“Is that not what you called me here for? If you wanted someone who was going to blow smoke up your ass and tell you exactly what you want to hear, you should have called that intern Peter. He’s dying for your approval so I’m sure he would have sat here and told you any bull shit excuse you wanted.”  
  
“Yeah well...maybe I should start hanging with him more,” Tony said with a huff.  
  
He knew he was being unnecessarily difficult but he couldn’t help it. All he wanted was one person to help point him in the right direction, as opposed to confirming that what he was hiding from was obvious.  
  
“Seriously, Tony, what’s the big deal? So you have a crush on the guy, so what?” Carol asked, a more caring tone this time.  
  
Tony ran a hand over his face and sighed.  
  
“I just...this isn’t me, ok? I’m not the kind of guy who just...has crushes on people. Especially people who have only been able to stand me for two months, after knowing me for three years. I’m a lone alpha, I don’t do the whole romance thing.”  
  
When Tony finally brought himself to look at the woman next to him, she was smiling at him, fondly.  
  
“You know, I felt the exact same way before I met Rhodey.”  
  
“Really?” Tony asked, somewhat surprised.  
  
“Oh, yeah,” Carol said, around a small laugh, “I would have bet money back then that I was going to be alone forever. I had friends all around me, finding their bond mates, but it just didn’t seem like something that was meant for me. All the mushy stuff they were talking about sounded kind of awful actually, cause I mean...who likes dealing with feelings, right?! But then one day Rhodey came along, and it was terrifying. I’d gotten so used to the idea that there was no one out there for me and that, like you I was going to be a lone-alpha, but then in walks the most perfect beta the world had to offer. Suddenly I was having to readjust everything I’d set myself up for and it was hard...really fucking hard, but so worth it.”  
  
Tony let Carol’s words sink in for a moment. He had no clue what he was doing or what he truly wanted, but it was extremely comforting to know that he wasn’t alone in how he felt.  
  
“Thanks for sharing that with me,” Tony said, leaning back into his arm chair, and finally allowing himself to relax.  
  
“Anything to get you to quit whining,” Carol responded, lifting her mug up in cheers.  
  
Tony just flipped her off, and shook his head laughing. It was rare that he really sought the advice of those around him, but when he did it always served as a reminder that he was truly lucky to have the friends he had.  
  
\---  
  
Two days before Tony’s holiday gathering, Steve found himself practically crawling through his apartment to get around. He’d been feeling extremely under the weather lately, but he couldn’t quite figure out why. He heard a light knock at the front door and groand, slowly making his way to answer it. Once he opened the door, he was met by gasps and worried looks.  
  
“Good lord, Nat told us you weren’t feeling well but she didn’t tell us you were gunna look _this_ bad!” Clint said, with a slightly disgusted look on his face.  
  
Bucky elbowed Clint in the rib, hard, then turned to look at his friend.  
  
“Seriously, Steve, are you ok?” Bucky asked, pushing past the blond into his home.  
  
“Clearly, the answer is no,” Steve responded, giving a nod to Sam, and shooting a death glare at Clint.  
  
“How long have you been like this?” Sam asked, attempting to get a better look at the omega to inspect his face, and feel his forehead. Steve swatted his hand away immediately.  
  
“I’ve been feeling like shit for the past week or so, but it’s not that serious. It’s winter, I clearly just have some kind of bug, I’ll be fine.”  
All three of his friends looked at one another.  
  
“Look, Nat and I don’t have to go out of town for the holiday. We can stay here if you need us,” Bucky offered.  
  
“Yeah, I was going to leave a few days early to spend some extra time with my family, but I’d be more than happy to stick around and make sure you’re good,” Sam chimed in.  
  
“I was really just going to go home to hang out with my dog more than anybody else in my family, so I could stay...but I really love my dog so…” Clint explained, slowly realizing that he had possibly made a mistake in saying anything at all.  
  
“Guys, listen, I don’t want or need any of you to stay here to take care of me. Contrary to popular belief, I’m a big boy who can take care of himself,” Steve responded, suddenly feeling the need to sit down.  
  
His friends all looked at him, then at one another.  
  
“Are you sure?” Bucky asked one more time.  
  
“Yes, I’m sure! I’m not some dainty little thing that needs to be constantly fussed over. I am perfectly capable of managing without you guys,” Steve snapped.  
  
He felt bad for going off on his friends, but as the only omega in his close group of friends it sometimes felt like they were giving him special treatment due to his gender. He was fully aware that his friends considered him an equal but sometimes his insecurities got the better of him.  
  
“Ok, sorry man. We didn’t mean anything by it. Just wanted to make sure you’re alright,” Sam said, taking a seat next to Steve.  
  
The blond sighed and gave his friends a weak smile.  
  
“Look, guys, I’m sorry. I really appreciate the offer to help but really, I’ll be ok. So, why are you all here, anyway?” Steve asked, realizing that he hadn’t asked his friends over to begin with.  
  
“Well,” Clint started, “on top of Nat telling us that you’re sick, she also mentioned that you’re going to Stark’s holiday party...thing. Care to explain how you failed to mention this in the last week since you got invited?”  
  
All three men turned to look at Steve, and he immediately felt his face grow warmer.  
  
“I just...uh...I didn’t want to bother you guys while you were getting ready for the holidays with your families.” Steve answered, unsure if even he bought that poor excuse for an explanation.  
  
“You’re crush invited you to some super exclusive holiday jam and you don’t want to _bother_ us about it? Are you fucking kidding me?!” Bucky asked, eyes wide with excitement.  
  
Steve tried to deny that he had any kind of feelings for Tony, he really really did. But once his friends stopped believing his lies, he did too. He had truly grown to look forward to being around the alpha, both during their lunches and outside of work. Though they hadn’t gotten to spend any time together off the clock yet, they had taken to texting constantly outside of work. It had gotten to the point where Steve would feel a twinge of sadness when he received a text that wasn’t from Tony.  
  
“Ok look, I didn’t want to admit that you guys were right. But you were and I like him and he invited me over for holiday shenanigans with friends and while yes, I’m pretty excited about it, I’m not going to read too much into it.”  
  
His friends suddenly turned into a group of giddy school girls.  
  
“Alright, we will get to the part about what you’ll be wearing in a second,” Sam said, putting up a finger to silence the protest he knew was about to come out of Steve’s mouth, “but first, what are you getting Tony?”  
  
“Oh well I uh…” Steve began, stumbling through his words, “he said he tells everyone not to get him anything--”  
  
His friends all groaned in unison, assuming that Steve actually listened to the alpha’s request.  
  
“But ma taught me better than that, so I bought him a scarf,” Steve finished.  
  
After a few moments of silence, Steve became a little worried.  
  
“What’s wrong?” He asked, timidly.  
  
“It’s just...out of all the things in the world you could get him…” Bucky started, slowly, as not to offend his friend.  
  
“Why’d you buy the man a scarf?” Clint finished, abrasive as ever.  
  
“It’s kind of an inside joke we have. The day he invited me to this thing, it was pretty cold out so he let me borrow his scarf. Every day since, he’s let me borrow it on our way to lunch, but it seems like he only has one. I figured if I gave him another one he could wear that one so we could both keep warm,” Steve answered thinking back on the past few days, with a fond smile.  
  
“But...why didn’t you just buy yourself a scarf so you can stop borrowing his?” Clint asked, scratching his head.  
  
“I swear to God, Clint, if it weren’t for the fact that Nat would kill me, I’d throw you out the window right here and now,” Bucky grit out with clenched teeth.  
  
At that, Steve couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. All three of his friends turned to look at him, confused, which made the blond laugh even harder. It took a few moments for him to be able to calm down enough to speak, but when he did, he had to wipe the tears from his eyes first.  
  
“You guys are too fucking much,” was all he could get out before a short string of poorly hidden giggles fell out of his mouth.  
  
When he looked up at his friends, they were all smiling at him. For the first time in days, Steve felt like he was able to forget about whatever had him feeling ill and just enjoy being in the moment. He truly wanted to savor this day and this time with his best friends, so he stood slowly, and clapped his hands together.  
  
“Alright guys, now for the fun stuff. What am I going to wear?”  
  
Almost immediately, Bucky, Sam, and Clint began shouting out ideas. In that instant, Steve knew it was going to be a long night, but it was going to be well worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony sat on the loveseat in his living room, sorrowfully looking down at the wrapped gift he held in his hand. He had texted Steve early that morning to let him know that everyone would be heading over to his place around 7 pm that night, but he was more than welcome to come earlier if he wanted. Tony didn’t get a response, which he found unusual, but he didn’t dwell on it too much. Until 6:45 pm rolled around, and everyone was there but the one person he’d been most excited to see. Those first fifteen minutes that Tony waited, eyes glued to the clock, were excruciating.  
  
“I’m sure he’s just running a little late, he’ll be here, I’m sure of it,” Pepper assured Tony, as she made her way to the kitchen to dish out the food she’d brought for everyone.  
  
The brunet just gave her what he considered his best fake smile, and pulled out his phone.  
  
_Hey, hope to see you soon! :)_  
  
Tony typed quickly before shoving his phone in his pocket, too nervous to wait for a reply. As everyone settled in, talked about their holiday plans and ate, Tony became more and more aware of the weight of the phone in his pocket. More importantly, he became more and more aware of the lack of vibration telling him he had a message. Minute after gut wrenching minute went by, and Tony could tell that his friends were trying to keep things moving, but they were all focused on him. At one point Carol finally brought up the very large elephant in the room.  
  
“Guys, look, either he’s coming or he isn’t. Either way, we’re all going to have a great time watching some of our favorite movies, ok?”  
  
Tony looked at his phone, finally, to notice that not only did he not have any new messages but it was already 8 pm. Standing there with all of his friends watching him closely, looking down at that gift box that held a brand new bottle of his shampoo for Steve, Tony gave a slightly defeated sigh then smiled weakly.  
  
“I say fuck it, let’s have the best Christmas hang this town’s ever seen!”  
  
\---  
  
Steve woke up, drenched in sweat and writhing in pain. He’d been feeling like absolute shit for almost two weeks now, and he couldn’t figure out why at first...until today. This was the first time since he hit puberty that Steve had gone into an unexpected heat. He’d always tried to be so careful to make sure that he took his suppressants, and to this day he had always stayed on top of it. However, the new suppressant he was taking, a shot given once every three months, had it’s side effects; one being the possibility of an unexpected heat. The omega cursed himself for not noticing the signs sooner so he could possibly stop it or at least prepare for it. He sat in his apartment, alone, in the worst pain, while the people he trusted most were nowhere near to help.  
  
As if on cue, Steve heard his phone chirp, indicating a new text message. He slowly moved to reach for the device on his nightstand, and felt a shudder run through him when he saw that the message was from Tony.  
  
“Hey, everyone’s coming at around 7 so be here by then, or come earlier if you want”  
  
A wave came over Steve as he imagined what Tony must look like at that moment, texting him, possibly from his bed as turned on as he was. Fresh slick came flowing out of the omega almost immediately at that thought. He moaned, not only out of desperation for the alpha in his day dream, but out of frustration as well. Since fully realizing that he did infact have a thing for his new friend, Steve had been looking forward to nothing but this get together. He wanted to see the alpha’s face when he opened his Christmas gift, sit close as they watched his favorite holiday movie and couldn’t help but hope they ended up under some mistletoe. But now none of that would be happening tonight, or possibly ever. What could he say that would make this alright and not ruin his friendship with Tony?  
  
_Sorry I can’t come tonight, I’m an absolute dumbass and had no clue I was going into heat, oops!_  
  
That wasn’t going to work. The more he thought about it, nothing was going to work, so Steve resolved that once this was all over, he’d explain what happened, he and Tony would have a good laugh, and things would be back to normal. Except for the fact that once he started thinking about the alpha he couldn’t stop.  
  
As the day went on, Steve’s daydreams got dirtier and dirtier, getting him far more worked up than he needed to be in his state. He tried desperately to get himself through this, but with each orgasm, he had Tony’s name on his lips, and the alpha’s knot on his mind. Steve had one hand, wrist deep inside himself, with the other holding onto his dick and pumping for dear life when his phone chirped again. He wanted to ignore it, but he could see that it was from Tony. Sighing, he removed his hands from their current position and took hold of his phone.  
  
“Hey, hope to see you soon! :)”  
  
And with that Steve exploded, coming, untouched. It took some time for him to begin breathing normally again, but when he did all he could utter was an exhausted fuck. It looked like this was shaping up to possibly be the worst heat of Steve’s life.  
  
\---  
  
It didn’t take long after his friends left for Tony to start hitting the booze. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t end up having a good time with everyone, but it was in spite of himself. He was bitter, he was angry, but mostly he was hurt that Steve didn’t show up, didn’t even send so much as a ‘fuck off’ text. Every so often he’d wonder if the omega had planned to do this, as a form of payback for the past few years. Almost as soon as he’d think it, though, he’d remind himself that no matter what, Steve wasn’t that kind of guy.  
  
Tony started throwing back drink after drink, and as the liquid burned its way down his throat, crazy ideas started forming.  
  
_Who does that asshat think he is, not showing up after I so kindly invited him?!_  
  
Tony thought to himself as he downed another drink.  
  
_I’m gunna go to his house and give him a piece of my mind!_  
  
And with that, Tony resolved to make his way to Steve’s house...once he figured out where exactly that was. He did some digging online, losing some of his buzz in the process. Though he was able to think a little clearer, he was still just as intent on making this trip.  
  
With the address in hand, Tony called a cab and made the half hour trip to see Steve. For all his grumbling about how angry he was with the omega, Tony still made a point to bring the gift he had gotten for him.  
  
As they passed building after building, Tony tried to think of what he wanted to say, but no matter what, everything he came up with gave away much more about his feelings than he wanted them to. Finally he just settled on the whole _oh hey, just strolling through your neighborhood at three in the morning and wanted to drop off your gift, but also say fuck you for not coming tonight_. Somehow, that was the best he could come up with so that was what he was sticking with.  
  
“Alright, this is it,” the cab driver said, pulling Tony out of his head.  
  
He pulled some crumpled bills out of his pocket and handed them to the driver before heading out of the car. He hadn’t thought much about it on the ride over, but Tony suddenly became very aware of his appearance. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were wrinkled from laying down and sulking on the couch. He tried to straighten his clothes out a bit but once he realized that was a lost cause, he ran a hand through his hair, for good measure.  
  
Walking into the apartment building, Tony noticed how charming it was. On the outside it looked like an old traditional New York apartment building but inside it had a modern industrial feel. He wished he could have spent more time looking around at all the little intricacies, but he didn’t have the time.  
  
As he rode up the elevator to Steve’s floor, the nerves finally hit. Tony had been operating off of alcohol induced courage for some part of the night, but the more he sobered up the more he questioned his actions. The second the elevator doors opened, a scent wafted towards Tony immediately grabbing all of his attention. The scent was heavy, yet somehow sweet. The alpha had no clue what he was smelling, but he knew he needed to get to whatever it was, fast.  
  
The more he walked, the closer he got to what he had been looking for, and a quick glance at the door number told him that he was at Steve’s apartment. Without any thought, he started banging on the door. Tony had all but forgotten about chewing out Steve for bailing on him at this point. All that mattered was getting into that apartment and getting his hands on whatever smelled so damn good.  
  
After a few moments of knocking with no answer, Tony became frantic. Why wouldn’t the omega let him in? He _needed_ to get inside to find the source of that heavenly smell. Tony suddenly found himself wanting to do nothing but devour whatever was producing that scent, and with that thought he delivered a knock that dented the metal door. With that, he heard some movement within the apartment and suddenly the door opened.  
  
The scent that Tony had been following engulfed him almost immediately. He wanted to fall to his knees under the weight of it, but managed to step inside the apartment in an attempt to get as close to it as possible. Scanning the room, his eyes suddenly fell on Steve standing there naked, shaking, panting heavily with slick sliding down his legs. It took less than a minute for Tony to realize what he’d been smelling, what he had been after this whole time, was Steve himself.  
  
“I...what’s….what’s going on?” Tony asked, feeling his breathing become more labored as he took in the site in front of him.  
Steve’s hair was an absolute mess, his skin was drenched in sweat and his pupils were blown wider than Tony thought possible. Simply put, he looked like he’d been wrecked.  
  
“What are these?” Tony asked, pulling the omega’s left arm towards him to get a closer look at what seemed to be bite marks.  
  
“I…” Steve started, only stopping for the shudder that ran through him, “I thought if I...bit into my arm, it’d keep me quiet...so the neighbors wouldn’t hear me…”  
  
“Wouldn’t hear you what?” Tony practically whispered, feeling himself grow hard at the thought of what Steve had been up to.  
  
“Tony…” the blond let out around a gasp, “I need you… _now_.”  
  
That was all it took for the alpha to act. He took Steve’s arm and dragged him down the back hallway.  
  
“Bedroom,” Tony growled, almost surprising himself with the ferocity of his voice.  
  
Steve just pointed a shaky finger towards the door to their left before pressing himself up against the brunet’s side. He began to move his hips, looking for any type of friction he could get. Tony took both of his hands and slammed Steve up against the wall, soliciting the most beautiful whimper he’d ever heard. He took in the omega’s face, his red swollen lips, the blush that tinted his cheeks. Tony was losing his mind at the sight but it wasn’t until Steve muttered a desperate ‘please’, that he felt something inside of him snap.  
  
It only took a matter of seconds for Tony to throw Steve face down on his bed, and to get undressed. He looked down at what lay in front of him and silently cursed at the sight of Steve working himself open.  
  
“I need you, I need you, please,” Steve repeated over and over again.  
  
Tony took a step closer to the bed, and reached out to remove Steve’s hand from his hole. The blond didn’t even have time to give a disappointed whine at the loss of his own fingers, before he was moaning around the feel of Tony’s. The alpha looked on in wonder as two, then three, of his fingers worked in and out of the beautifully wet hole in front of him. An overwhelming urge came over the brunet to taste the man below him, so he removed his fingers and brought them to his lips. Without hesitation, he placed two fingers in his mouth, and fluttered his eyes shut in ecstasy. Steve tasted even better than he smelled, and Tony needed more of it.  
  
Ignoring the omega’s pleas, he bent over to get closer to Steve’s entrance, spreading him to get a good look before attempting to suck him dry. The gasp that fell from Steve’s lips was magnificent, and Tony wanted to hear nothing more but that amazing sound for the rest of the night. He used his tongue to dart in and out of the omega, making him squirm and cry out for release. Once he’d had his fill, Tony pulled off of Steve’s entrance with one final flick of his tongue, then ran a hand lightly up and down the blond’s back.  
  
“What do you want me to do?” Tony asked, trying to calm the man below him.  
  
It took a few moments before Steve was able to form a coherent sentence, but when he did it almost had Tony seeing stars.  
  
“I want you to fuck me.”  
  
Not much else needed to be said to convince Tony. He grabbed hold of his cock, gasping at the feel of his own hand. He lined himself up, noticing the fresh slick leaking out of Steve and thrust in. Both men moaned as Tony fully seated himself. He had to take a second to savor the feeling of the omega but once he wrapped his mind around what was happening, he lost himself completely in the moment.  
  
Tony set a somewhat brutal pace, chasing after something he wasn’t exactly sure of, with each thrust. He tried to focus on every little thing about Steve in this moment. The blond had a stream of praises falling out of his mouth, and though Tony couldn’t pick up on any one in particular, he always heard his name, crystal clear. The sound of Steve moaning his name brought him close to the edge faster than he’d expected. He was prepared to pull out before he was able to knot, but Steve threw his head back and began begging in earnest.  
  
“Please Tony, I...I need your knot...want to feel you swell inside me and...fill me up. Please, please please,” Steve cried.  
  
There was some part of Tony that knew better, but in this moment, all he wanted was to be locked inside of the sweet omega beneath him. Without warning, Tony came, hard, inside of Steve. He felt pulse after pulse of cum release, and sighed as he tried to drive himself deeper. Shortly after that, his knot began to form, and once it had grown to full size, he took hold of Steve’s cock. He tried his best to match the pumping of his fist with the movement of his hips and within no time, Steve came with a shout.  
  
The blond dropped his head to the pillow in front of him, shuddering at the feel of more cum filling him. Tony allowed Steve to rest for a moment, before moving onto their side. He stroked any area of skin he could get his hands on, while leaving a trail of kisses down the expense of Steve’s back. The pair of them sat there like that, desperately trying to calm their breathing for close to twenty minutes before Tony’s knot began to deflate. He slowly pulled out once he was able, wrapping his arms around Steve and turning him around to finally get a good look at him.  
  
Tony stroked Steve’s face softly, before leaning in to kiss him, as gently as possible. They continued to kiss, lazily for a few minutes, before resting their foreheads together.  
  
“Thank you,” Steve whispered, almost too softly to hear.  
  
“I will stay here and see you through this,” Tony offered, “we’ll discuss things later, but first we have to get you through this heat, ok?”  
  
“Yes, alpha,” Steve answered, before quickly correcting himself, “I...I mean...yes, _Tony_.”  
  
“I’ll get you some water and something to eat, while you rest,” Tony said, leaning over to give Steve another kiss before getting out of bed.  
  
He wandered through the kitchen, trying to figure out where everything was and what he could bring to Steve while they waited for another wave to hit. Tony had no clue what he was doing here or what this meant for the two of them, but only one thought ran through his mind for the rest of the evening.  
  
_He called me ‘alpha’_.  
  
\---  
  
Steve woke up and lazily stretched out his limbs. It took a few minutes for him to fully wake up and to realize that he wasn’t alone in his bed. He turned to see Tony, asleep on his stomach, snoring softly. Steve couldn’t help but smile at the alpha resting beside him. Once he remembered why it was that Tony was asleep next to him in the first place, he felt the blush coming to his face.  
  
Christmas was three days away, and it had been two days since the brunet showed up to find Steve almost out of his mind. During that time they hadn’t spent more than ten minutes apart, and it was absolutely amazing. Steve thought back to his heat, and fluttered his eyes shut at some of the more vivid memories. Even with his mind roaming to all the ways Tony took care of him, he kept going back to that first kiss. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about what it would be like to kiss the brunet, but it was even better than he ever could have imagined. Steve wanted nothing more than to kiss Tony senseless, but he knew that he was asking for more than he really deserved. With that thought, the omega gave a sigh, and slowly moved out of bed to make breakfast.  
  
It wasn’t until he had completely finished buttering a few slices of toast that Tony walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Steve gave a warm smile.  
  
“Hey,” he said softly.  
  
“Hey,” Tony answered, with a smile of his own.  
  
“Have a seat, I made breakfast for you,” Steve stated, setting the dining table.  
  
“Ah, you really didn’t have to,” Tony offered, taking a seat and serving himself a plate in spite of his previous statement.  
  
“I know I didn’t have to but I...I figured I needed to say thank you somehow.”  
  
Tony took a few bites of his scrambled eggs before placing his fork on his plate, and looking right at Steve.  
  
“Listen, you don’t need to thank me. I was hap--it was not trouble, helping you through your heat.”  
  
“Well I just…” Steve started, not quite sure how to go about saying what he wanted to say, “I just don’t want things to be awkward between us now.”  
  
When it came to Tony, Steve was unsure of a lot of things. He had feelings for the alpha, that much was clear, but he would much rather continue their friendship the way it was rather than let the hope of something more ruin that.  
  
“Steve...I don’t think any differently of you because of this. You went into heat and you needed help, so I helped. I’m still going to think of you as the tall, goofy blond who likes _Say Yes to the Dress_ far more than any grown man should ever admit, so don’t worry, we’ll be going back to standard operating procedures after this.”  
  
“I’m going to overlook you judging my taste in wonderful television programming, and just focus on the rest of your statement,” Steve said around a small laugh.  
  
With that the two of them wolfed down their breakfast, only stopping once all of the food was gone. Once they put their plates in the sink, they stood in the kitchen, now unsure of what to do next.  
  
"Alright, well I'm gunna go get dressed and then head out," Tony said, moving towards the hallway.  
  
"Yeah, ok," Steve spoke, trying not to let the sadness show in his voice, “you’re more than welcome to shower here if you need to.”  
  
“Ahh, thanks, but I'm just gunna shower when I get home and then pass out immediately afterward."  
  
Steve turned to busy himself with cleaning the dishes, trying hard not to think about how badly he wanted Tony to stay. When he heard the alpha come back, he dried his hands and turned around to somewhat of a surprise. Tony was holding a gift box with his own name on it.  
  
"I saw this in the room and figured it'd be ok if I took it...since my name is on it and all."  
  
"Oh, yeah that was your gift that I wanted to bring to the holiday gathering but...well I obviously wasn't able to make it."  
  
“Is it ok if I…” Tony lifted up the small box and shook it, indicating he wanted to open it.  
  
“Yeah, go right ahead,” Steve answered, slightly nervous about what Tony would think of the gift.  
  
The alpha made quick work, unwrapping the box and opening it to see a deep red scarf with gold accents. When he didn’t say anything, Steve felt the need to explain himself.  
  
“I uh...I figured since I always steal your scarves, it’d be nice if I gave you one for once...I can return it if you don’t--”  
  
“It’s great,” Tony hurried to say, with a goofy smile plastered on his face, “it’s great, Steve. Thank you.”  
  
Steve stood there, watching as Tony wrapped the scarf around his neck, securely, giving a content smile once he’d gotten himself together.  
  
“Alright, well I guess I’ll be heading out then,” Tony said, softly, ”I’ll be around during the break from work so if you need anything, just give me a call.”  
  
The pair of them stood there until Steve moved to walk Tony to the door.  
  
“I hope you have a Merry Christmas, Tony. And be safe on the way home,” Steve whispered, wanting desperately to reach out and touch the brunet.  
  
“Merry Christmas to you too Steve.”  
  
Once Tony made his way down the hall, Steve shut the door, giving a somewhat defeated sigh. He knew he had a lot of thinking to do, but at the moment, all the blond wanted to do was sleep. He walked into his room, and noticed a box with red wrapping paper and a note attached to it. Steve gingerly unwrapped the box, unveiling a bottle of shampoo. Reaching for the note, Steve couldn’t help but smile at what it said:  
  
_Now your hair can smell as good as mine!_  
Merry X-mas,  
Tony  
  
As tired as he was, Steve stood and walked to the bathroom to turn on the shower. Watching Tony leave after what had happened between them was hard. Steve wanted to feel the alpha’s arms around him again, and to kiss him again. But for now, he’d just have to settle for smelling like him.


	4. Chapter 4

_Tony sat at the edge of the bed, unclothed, waiting. At the site of what he’d been waiting for, what he’d been longing for, he felt his heart stop. In front of him stood the most amazingly beautiful omega he’d ever seen, and he knew that in a matter of seconds he would get to have them.  
  
With every step the omega took towards Tony, he felt himself grow more and more aroused. The way they walked, the way they smelled, everything was intoxicating and he couldn’t wait to experience it all. Finally, Tony reached out and wrapped his arms around the waist in front of him, slowly guiding them down onto him. The second he was fully inside them, he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.  
  
Tony looked up into the clear blue eyes before him, seeing all the hunger and want that they held.  
  
“Are you ready,” he asked, running his hands through soft blond hair.  
  
The omega smiled down at him...Steve smiled down at him, leaning in for a soft kiss.  
  
“I’m ready, alpha.” _  
  
Tony shot up immediately, groaning once he noticed the erection he was sporting. It had been weeks since he’d seen Steve through his heat, and though he’d promised that things would go back to normal, they had been anything but. The pair still tried to make their regular lunch dates, but with their growing workload, it had gotten harder and harder to actually make time for one another.  
  
Though they weren’t able to keep up with their lunches, they’d been texting each other just as much, if not more, which gave Tony some peace of mind. But it seemed as though every text from Steve automatically brought the brunet back to those few days they spent together before Christmas.  
  
He tried, honestly, Tony put in a legitimate effort to let it go. He was doing what a good friend and a respectable alpha would do, helping Steve through his heat. Yet, it felt like so much more. What happened between them was permanently etched in his mind, seemingly popping up at the most inconvenient times. Like right now, for instance. Tony needed to get into work early, to put together the final touches for a very important presentation, he didn’t have the time to deal with this.  
  
And yet, his dick couldn’t care less about work, and responsibilities and all those annoying things that he had to do. So Tony rolled his eyes, before taking hold of himself to finish what had started in his dream. It only took a few minutes of thinking back to those days in December for Tony to come with Steve’s name on his lips. He knew that this wasn’t healthy, that he couldn’t keep doing this, but as time went on Tony began to realize that their friendship meant more to him than a romantic relationship. So he reached over to his side table for a tissue to clean himself up, and begrudgingly started his day.  
  
\---  
  
Steve walked into work feeling worse than he had ever felt in his life. He had been feeling nauseous for a whole week, generally becoming physically ill at least once a day for about as long. Initially he couldn’t figure out what could be causing it, but he just chalked it up to food poisoning, and tried to go about his life.  
  
“How are you feeling today?” Natasha asked, stopping by Steve’s desk with a cup of peppermint tea.  
  
“Ugh, I’m still feeling sick. I honestly don’t know what’s going on,” Steve answered, carefully sipping the hot drink.  
  
Natasha gave a sympathetic smile, placing her hand on Steve’s shoulder for reassurance.  
  
“Alright well, let me know if you need anything today. I know we’re all busy but don’t hesitate, ok?”  
  
Steve simply nodded, before turning towards his computer, to attempt to get some work done. Time moved by slower than usual as the omega waited for the time to come for him to ask Tony for lunch. Resting his head on his desk, Steve heard the sound of footsteps, and shot up immediately, to see Coulson standing beside him.  
  
“I need to talk to you today, around noon about something in my office” the man said, giving Steve a strange look.  
  
“Ok, yeah, I’ll be there,” Steve said, trying his best to calm his now queasy stomach.  
  
“Are you ok? You don’t look so good,” Coulson observed.  
  
Steve just gave a weak smile and slowly nodded his head. That seemed to be enough for Coulson, as he turned and made his way back to his office. The second Coulson was gone, Steve stood and ran for the bathroom. He shot past Tony’s desk, only briefly noticing the look of concern on the alpha’s face. He wanted to stop to explain himself, but he knew he didn’t have enough time.  
  
Once he made it to the bathroom, Steve picked the closest stall to him, slammed the door shut and threw his head into the toilet bowl. He lurched as what little he had in his stomach forced it’s way back up. After several moments of heaving, Steve finally felt that he would be ok if he got up and went back to his desk. He quickly washed his face, noting how red his eyes were and how tired he looked, before leaving.  
  
As he slowly walked back into the office, he stopped at Tony’s desk.  
  
“Hey, Cap, everything alright?” Tony asked, giving the omega his full attention.  
  
“I’ve been pretty sick for the past few days, probably just food poisoning or something,” Steve answered, quietly.  
  
“That’s too bad. Did you still want to get lunch today?” Tony asked, seeming hopeful.  
  
“I don’t think I can today. Coulson asked me to come to his office at noon to talk about something, but I don’t know what it is or how long it’ll take.”  
  
“Oh...ok,” Tony said, obviously disappointed, “well maybe tomorrow then.”  
  
Steve gave an apologetic look before heading back to his desk, to get as much done before his meeting as he could. Now time seemed to move faster than he could keep up with, and when Steve finally looked up it was time for his meeting. He got up, slowly, and walked towards Coulson’s office, knocking lightly when he got there.  
  
“Come in,” he heard from behind the door.  
  
Once inside, Coulson gestured for him to take a seat.  
  
“So, Steve, I assume you have no idea why I’ve asked you here today,” the older man spoke, in a friendly tone.  
  
“No idea, sir,” Steve responded, now beginning to get a little worried.  
  
“Well, looking at your work for the past few months, it seems you’ve improved greatly since we first brought you here as an intern. You and Tony have definitely had your ups and downs over the years, which is what drove me to make this decision…We’re promoting you to Graphic Design Manager. The entire graphic design team will now report to you, effective on the first of next month. Congratulations, Steve, you’ve really earned it.”  
  
“I...thank you, sir,” Steve responded, voice a little shaky.  
  
He couldn’t believe that after all of his hard work, Vision had decided that he was worthy of a promotion. And while he was endlessly grateful for this opportunity, he couldn’t help feeling bad about what this meant for Tony. Realizing that it would be best not to ask, Steve stood, thanked Coulson once more, and left. Seconds after getting to his desk, Tony peaked his head around the walls of Steve’s cube.  
  
“How was the meeting?” He asked, pulling up an extra seat.  
  
“Oh it was...it went well, nothing big. What’s in the bag?” Steve asked, trying to change the subject.  
  
“Well, since you were busy and you weren’t feeling well, I decided to bring you back some soup. And before you ask, it’s not chicken noodle, it’s Italian wedding soup.”  
  
Steve looked up at the alpha, confused but slightly amused at the same time.  
  
“Growing up, my mom always refused to give me chicken noodle soup when I was sick. She said being sick is punishment enough, so you might as well get to eat something fun in the process. As you can see, I tend to agree with her,” Tony offered, as Steve opened the bag and took out the cup of soup.  
  
“Thank you so much, Tony. This is a big help,” Steve said, genuinely grateful for the gesture.  
  
“Ah, it’s no trouble, but you should really probably head to the doctor. I mean, I’m the type who hates going to the doctor unless it is guaranteed that I will be cured of whatever ailment I have the second I leave, but it seems that something might really be wrong here. So...just go to doctor and see what they have to say.”  
  
Steve found it extremely endearing that Tony not only cared enough to bring him soup but to also make him promise to see someone about what was wrong. He couldn’t help the goofy smile from forming on his face.  
  
“Alright, Tony, I’ll make an appointment as soon as I get home tonight, ok?”  
  
“Alright, good. Enjoy the soup,” Tony said, before standing to walk back to his desk.  
  
As Steve continued to eat his lunch, he thought over the events of his day, and realized that the alpha was right. Something truly was not right with him and as badly as he wanted to pretend that he was okay, everyone could clearly see that he wasn’t. Steve knew that nothing was going to get better until he saw someone, he was just terrified of finding out what it was that was wrong.  
  
\---  
  
Tony sat at his desk looking away at nothing on his screen as he waited for the end of the day. Coulson had come by at some point and asked to speak with him before he left. He never really liked the idea of being called into the boss’ office for a one on one meeting, but Tony knew he’d been doing nothing but his best work lately so it couldn’t have been _that_ bad, whatever it was. Right around 5 pm, Tony packed up his things and walked over to Coulson’s office, stepping inside once he saw the door was open.  
  
“Hey, Phil, what’d you want to talk about?”  
  
“Firstly, you calling me Phil. I’m Coulson to you,” the older man answered.  
  
Tony just smiled and gave a shrug, earning himself an eye roll.  
  
“Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we’ve noticed that your work has really improved lately, especially what you’ve been doing with our web content. I know you graduated with a degree in Web Design and a minor in Graphic Design, so why’d you come into the company only wanting to do graphic design?”  
  
“Oh, well, at the time I thought I might be happier doing graphic design, but to tell the truth, I’ve really missed building web content for clients,” Tony answered, honestly.  
  
“Glad to hear that, Stark. We’ve looked into some of the things you’ve produced lately, and decided that you’d be a much better fit for the web dev team. So, with that being said, we’re promoting you to the Web Development Manager. Congratulations, Tony.”  
  
“Wait...what?” Tony asked, in disbelief, “I’ve been working with the graphic design team for years. You see a few things that I produced for the web team and suddenly I’m good enough to manage it?”  
  
“I’m well aware of the fact that you’ve been doing freelance work, pro bono, for nonprofits in the area in your spare time,”  
  
Tony felt the blood drain from his face at that. He hadn’t told a single person in the office, save for Pepper and Rhodey about the side work that he did, for fear that he might get in trouble. He had no idea how Coulson had managed to find out about it.  
  
“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble,” Coulson offered, seemingly reading Tony’s mind, “but I’ve seen the work you’ve done and spoken with some of your clients. Your turnaround time is extremely impressive, especially for a one man team who has a full time job. I really think you’d be able to change the game for our web team, and help this company offer something extraordinary to our clients.”  
  
“You’re saying a lot of really great things about me right now, and though I would prefer to let this continue, I’m going to have to stop you and say that I accept the position.”  
  
“Alright good, just know that we’ll let you continue to do your pro bono work, however you must do it through Vision as opposed to doing it on your own.”  
  
“No problem, Phil,” Tony said, giving the thumbs up, as he stood to leave the office.  
  
As far as he was concerned, this was a win-win situation for the alpha, so he couldn’t be happier. Leaving the office, though, Tony couldn’t help but wonder where his new promotion left Steve. He pulled out his phone before heading out of the office building to find a text from the omega.  
  
_Thanks again for the soup, hopefully we’ll be able to grab a bite tomorrow :)_  
  
Tony felt his heart skip a beat at that. Before he replied, he went through his phone to dial Carol’s number.  
  
“Hey Stark, what do you want?” Carol answered, sounding somewhat out of breath  
  
“Please tell me you didn’t answer the phone in the midst of having sex with my best friend,” Tony said, disgust evident in his voice.  
  
“Fuck off alright, I’m at the gym. Why are you calling me?”  
  
“A thing happened at work, and Pepper is busy at some kind of business cocktail hour thing so she can’t help me.”  
  
“So I’m your backup for when Pep isn’t available to deal with your shit?” Carol asked, mock-offended.  
  
“Yes...now help me,” Tony whined.  
  
When he didn’t get a response, Tony began to pout.  
  
“I can hear you pouting all the way over here, and yet, it’s still not helping your case.”  
  
“What if I make you dinner and give you wine,” Tony finally offered, knowing that would get him the answer he wanted.  
  
“I will be at your place by 8. I expect steak and potatoes with a full bodied red wine,” was all Carol said before hanging up.  
  
With that out of the way, Tony flagged down a taxi, and once inside he began his nightly text conversation with Steve. When he finally got home, Tony immediately started on dinner, never once letting his phone leave his side.  
  
_I’m in the process of making a one course meal for Carol. Had to bribe her just to come talk to me :(_  
  
Tony wrote as he seasoned the steaks. It was a few minutes before his phone chirped in response.  
  
_I’ve never gotten dinner before and I talk to you constantly. What is this foolishness?!_  
  
Tony smiled, wide, fingers flying as he typed his reply.  
  
_I mean...I figured lunch was enough, but I suppose I can fit you in for dinner one of these days. I make a mean cup of easy mac!_  
  
With that, Tony put his phone down and got to preparing the rest of dinner. He didn’t do it often, but the alpha absolutely loved making dinner for others. Something about it gave him a sense of happiness that he was never quite able to explain. Very few people were even aware of the fact that Tony knew his way around the kitchen, but those who did never passed up the chance to have some of his cooking.  
  
Once dinner was completely cooked and plated, Tony heard a knock at the door, right at 8. He dried his hands on a kitchen towel as he made his way to the front door.  
  
“Alright, I’m here, where’s my food and wine?” Carol asked, stepping around Tony, into his house.  
  
“Please, come on in, don’t even wait for me to invite you!” Tony answered, throwing the towel over his shoulder, to take Carol’s coat and hang it up for her.  
  
“You invited me here so you could blab my ear off, I figured it’d be perfectly fine if I just barged right in.”  
  
“Well...you’re not wrong. Anyway, sit, eat, drink, and then shut up so I can talk about my life.”  
  
Tony directed Carol to the island in his kitchen, where he’d set two plates and two rather large wine glasses.  
  
“Either you know how much I love wine, or this is an indication of what I’m going to have to sit through,” the blonde said, taking her seat.  
  
“It’s a little bit of both,” Tony said, smiling at her as he poured her glass.  
  
Carol didn’t waste any time digging into the food in front of her. After one bite of her steak, she gave a satisfied moan. Tony gave her a confused look, to which Carol used her fork to gesture that he should go ahead with whatever it was he had to say.  
  
“Alright so I got a promotion at work today, and effective the first of next month, I’ll be the web dev manager.”  
  
Tony waved his hand to stop the impending congratulations he knew was coming from his friend after that.  
  
“Please, just sit there, eat and look pretty because there is a lot to cover here. Anyway, I’m pretty excited about this, because I’ve really missed being able to work on web stuff. Plus, Coulson said I can still do the charity work for nonprofits as long as I do it through Vision, so really there shouldn’t be a downside here.”  
  
“And yet, there is?” Carol asked, before taking a sip of her wine.  
  
“And yet there is,” Tony answered, picking at the food on his plate.  
  
“What could possibly be the downside to doing what truly makes you happy?"  
  
“Working on a different team means no more working with Steve...at least not directly anyway. I mean sure, I’ll have to meet with the graphic design team to talk over designs for web content and all that but it won’t really be the same. I’ve grown to really like working with him…”  
  
Tony looked up to see the judgmental look on Carol’s face.  
  
“What’s that look for” he asked, slightly upset by it.  
  
“That look is for the idiot that’s sitting in front of me. I can’t believe you still haven’t asked the guy out. He clearly likes you, just do it!”  
  
“I don’t want to ruin what we have, in the event that he doesn’t _clearly_ like me the same way.”  
  
Carol rolled her eyes before taking a bite of one of the small potatoes on her plate.  
  
“I swear to god, if it weren’t for the fact that this food is life changingly delicious, I wouldn’t be sitting here listening to this crap.”  
  
Tony felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, immediately moving to check the message he’d gotten.  
  
_If those are the skills you’re working with, maybe I should be the one to have you over for dinner. What do ya think?_  
  
“It’s a text from Steve, isn’t it?” Carol asked, cutting a piece of steak.  
  
“No…” Tony answered, turning away to respond to Steve without fear of Carol seeing.  
  
“You’ve got that stupid look on your face, that ‘something involving Steve is happening right now and I’m giddier than a schoolgirl about it’ face,” Carol pointed out, waving the steak at the end of her fork at Tony and his phone.  
  
The brunet considered the wide grin on his face, and suddenly felt self-conscious.  
  
“Look, you’re clearly not going to be able to live like this forever. At some point, you’re going to have to realize that you have legitimate feelings for this guy and do something about it. Because as much as I love coming over here for free food, I can’t keep watching you run around like a lovesick puppy trying to figure out what to do. Just ask him on a date and quit bothering me about it.”  
  
With those words of something slightly resembling encouragement, Tony typed a text that could change everything.  
  
_Sounds good...it’s a date!_  
  
\---  
  
Steve had gone through the day practically floating on a cloud after the text he’d received from Tony the night before. He didn’t know when, specifically, but they had a dinner date planned. Since December, Steve hadn’t stopped thinking about their time together. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t spent a few evenings chasing his orgasms with the thought of Tony inside of him. So to think that maybe the alpha had Steve on his mind too was exciting to say the least.  
  
Before they could plan anything, though, Steve needed to figure out why he’d been so sick lately. As promised, when he got home the day before, he’d called his doctor, and thankfully he was able to get an appointment for the following day. Once he’d told Natasha about the appointment, she refused to let him go alone, which Steve found odd yet not out of character for the red head.  
  
So there Steve sat, in the passenger’s seat of Natasha’s car, barely able to contain himself.  
  
“What is wrong with you,” Natasha asked, giving the blond a confused look, “you look like you’ve been ready to jump out of your seat all day.”  
  
“Tony asked me on a date.”  
  
“This better have happened literally five minutes before we left the office, because I _know_ you wouldn’t keep something like this from me for longer than that,” Natasha spoke, somehow managing to sound absolutely terrifying while keeping her eyes on the road.  
  
“Well...it happened last night while we were texting--”  
  
“Details. Now.”  
  
Steve gave a small laugh before continuing.  
  
“Well his friend Carol was coming over, but he said he had to bribe her with dinner to get her to come over and talk, so I made mention of the fact that I have yet to get dinner and I talk to him constantly. He brought up his questionable cooking skills so I threw it out there that maybe I should do the cooking then he responded with ‘it’s a date’.”  
  
The two sat in silence for a moment, finally reaching the doctor’s office. Once Natasha parked the car, she turned to Steve with a look that he’d come to equate with excitement coming from her.  
  
“The second you’re feeling better, you need to put this date on the calendar. I will help you plan every last detail of this.”  
  
A large smile spread on Steve’s face at that. He gave a small nod to Natasha, before they stepped out of the car to head towards the doctor’s office. It didn’t take long after checking in for Steve to be seen by his doctor, a short woman named Dr. Foster.  
  
“Hi Steve, I see here that you’ve not been feeling very well lately,” Dr. Foster, looking at Steve's chart.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t know what it is, I feel like maybe I got food poisoning, but I’m really not sure.”  
  
“Alright well we’ll do some testing and figure out exactly what’s going on.”  
  
And with that, Dr. Foster drew some blood, checked Steve’s vitals and went through a whole list of questions to try to figure out what had kept the omega feeling so sick lately. Once he left the examination room, he was practically as pale as a ghost. He plopped down in the seat next to Natasha, looking terrified.  
  
“Steve...Steve, is everything ok?”  
  
He turned towards his friend, tears welling up in his eyes and shook his head.  
  
“What happened in there? Steve, what happened?” Natasha asked, now starting to get scared.  
  
Steve couldn’t muster anything more than a whisper for the words he had for her.  
  
“I’m...I’m pregnant.”


	5. Chapter 5

Tony made his way into work feeling confused and slightly saddened. He thought things had ended well after he’d texted Steve about their dinner date, but he hadn’t heard from the omega since. He wanted to think that everything was fine, but when his texts the night before went unanswered, Tony began to doubt himself. Maybe Steve had second thoughts about wanting to have him over for dinner. Maybe he realized that even a friendship with Tony was a mistake. Thought after horrible thought popped into the alpha’s mind, making him wonder where exactly he went wrong.  
  
Tony plopped down at his desk, beginning to working as hard as he could to keep his mind off of things. He didn’t come up for air for several hours, but when he did, he made note that it was almost time for Steve to stop by to ask about lunch. Tony heard the telltale footsteps making their way towards his desk and he shut his eyes as he held his breath. The footsteps stopped right at his desk, and he opened his eyes to see a very irate looking Natasha staring down at him.  
  
“Hey, Nat...what’s up?” Tony asked, somewhat disappointed by who he found in front of him.  
  
“Do you know what happened today?”  
  
“I mean...in the world or where? I’ve been here all day working, and I haven’t really talked to anyone so--”  
  
“Steve quit.”  
  
“What?” Tony asked, praying that he heard her wrong.  
  
“Steve. Quit,” Natasha enunciated, “all thanks to you.”  
  
“Me?! What the hell did I do? I didn’t _do_ anything!” Tony practically yelled, frantically.  
  
Natasha just gave him a scolding look before walking away. Almost immediately Tony began to panic. Did Steve quit because the alpha asked him on a date? Was that what this was all about? He jumped to his feet to find Coulson and get to the bottom of this.  
  
“Steve quit. Why?” Tony asked, barging into the older man’s office.  
  
Tony was met with a growl that quickly reminded him who was boss, and sat down in the closest chair without even thinking about it. Coulson was the type of alpha who never really liked to show his gender, so when he tried to show dominance it was for a reason and you knew he wasn’t to be messed with.  
  
It took a few moments for Coulson to calm down before he spoke.  
  
“Listen, I don’t know what the hell happened but this morning I got word from Steve that he’s quitting. He wants to work the remainder of his two weeks from home, and he’s instructed Natasha to collect his personal effects. I don’t know _why_ he quit, I just know that I have the next fourteen days to get him to come back. So, Stark, if you could please get the hell out of my office so I can figure out what the fuck I’m going to do, that’d be great.”  
  
Without a word, Tony stood up and left. He’d never seen Coulson that upset, and though he’d gotten under the man’s skin more than a handful of times in the past, he’d never had the alpha talk to him like that. He figured that if this whole mess was somehow his fault, he’d have to do something to fix it. Quickly walking to his desk, Tony collected his things to leave.  
  
“Where do you think you’re going?” Clint asked, almost being mowed down by the alpha.  
  
Tony looked over his shoulder, not wanting to waste time to stop.  
  
“I’m going to fix what I’ve fucked up.”  
  
\---  
  
Since finding out he was pregnant, the omega felt like he was in some sort of a daze. Natasha helped him out to her car, and just held him as he cried for what felt like hours. After that, he asked her to take him home, and attempted to refuse her offer to stay with him a for as long as he needed.  
  
“Steven Grant Rogers, you just found out that you’re _pregnant_. I’m not going to leave you here by yourself. Now shut up, buckle up, and let me help you.”  
  
Steve had usually appreciated this side of Natasha, but today, he genuinely wished she’d just let him be. He knew what was ahead of him back at his apartment and he didn’t want any part of it. Having to explain himself, what happened back in December, the feelings he’d been having for his friend...it was all too much right now. But some very small part of him wanted to reach out and ask Natasha to never leave his side. He’d been holding on to the secret of what had happened between him and Tony and he felt as though it had been eating him alive. Little did he know that feeling was just evidence of what had transpired between the two, growing for all the world to see.  
  
Every moment that passed felt like an eternity as Steve tried to keep the tears away. He kept reminding himself that they weren’t too far and once they got to his apartment, he could let everything all out. Holding on for that long felt almost impossible but the second they got to his building, up the elevator and inside his apartment, he fell to the floor, finally able to let go.  
  
“Steve, how did this happen?” Natasha asked, rubbing her hand up and down the blond’s back, soothingly.  
  
It was several minutes before Steve was able to compose himself enough to give her the full answer.  
  
“Back before Christmas, I went into heat.”  
  
“You what?! Why didn’t you _tell_ anyone? Sam or Clint would have helped if you had asked! Wait...is this why you had been so sick beforehand? Did you know you were going into heat?”  
  
“No! I had no idea what was happening until it was too late. You were all gone to visit your families and I couldn’t ask you to come back for that. So I figured I’d just tough it out and everything would be ok. But Tony came by after I missed his holiday get together and once he saw me he knew.”  
  
“Did he take advantage of you?” Natasha asked, bristling at the thought.  
  
Steve could tell that had Natasha been an alpha, she’d have growled at the idea of someone taking advantage of him. For the most part, her being a beta didn’t stop people from treating her as if she were the most fierce alpha they’d ever encountered.  
  
“No, Natasha, he didn’t take advantage of me.”  
  
“Then how did this happen?!”  
  
“If you’d stop interrupting me, you’d find out!” Steve snapped.  
  
Instantly he felt awful for yelling at the red head, but he couldn’t stop to think about that. He just had to power through this story.  
  
“He figured out what was happening as soon as he saw me, and I asked him to help me. He was extremely respectful throughout, bringing me food and water, making sure I was getting enough rest...it was everything I could have asked for in a heat.”  
  
Natasha sat silently, letting those words sink in, but Steve could tell there was something she wanted to ask him.  
  
“Go ahead and ask whatever it is you want to ask,” he promoted.  
  
“Did he...did he at least ask before…”  
  
Steve immediately caught on to what Natasha was trying to ask, and felt himself blush at the question.  
  
“We were...in the middle of things, and it was obvious that he was going to knot soon. He tried to pull away, I think to keep from doing it while he was still...while we were still...you know, and I told him not to.”  
  
“Steve, why would you do that?!”  
  
“I don’t know, Natasha! I got caught up in everything and I just...I knew what was at risk but I didn’t care. Every moment I spent with Tony after that was nothing short of amazing.”  
  
“Did it happen every time?” Natasha asked, softly.  
  
“No, just the once,” Steve answered in a small voice, pulling his knees to his chest to make himself as small as possible.  
  
Natasha stood and started pacing at that point.  
  
“Oh, Stevie,” she began, chewing on her nails, “I’m so sorry that this is happening, but you don’t have to decide what you want to do now, and you don’t have to do any of this alone.”  
  
At that statement, Steve’s eyes grew wide with realization.  
  
“Please don’t tell Bucky or Sam or Clint; not yet. I just...I need some time to figure everything out, but until then please don’t say a word to anyone.”  
  
Natasha looked down at Steve, worry written clearly across her face, but gave a single nod.  
  
That night was the last time Steve had seen Natasha, and without her helping to keep things straight, he’d managed to convince himself that he couldn’t go back to work. Now that he had been promoted, it was unthinkable to possibly be Tony’s manager while walking around with the growing reminder of their time together. The omega drafted up an email, detailing his resignation. No matter how many times he went back to edit each and every single line, it never seemed right. So Steve decided that enough was enough, and settled for what he had in the moment, then sent it off to Coulson.  
  
Less than five minutes went by before calls, texts and emails started flooding his phone. When it got to be too much, he just turned the device off, hoping that he could just fade away from the world all together. He knew there was only a matter of hours before the work day would end and at the very least, Natasha would come looking for him, so he hoped that would be enough time for him to figure this mess out.  
  
As he mulled around his apartment, trying to deal with what he now knew was morning sickness, as well as the stress induced headache that was forming, Steve heard a loud knock at the door. He jumped initially, but walked to the door, almost certain that he knew who was on the other side of it.  
  
“Natasha, I know what you’re going to say--” Steve began, but stopped once he realized who was standing in front of him.  
  
Tony stood there, soaking wet, breathing heavily. He looked up at the blond, with determination in his eye.  
  
“We need to talk...now.”  
  
\---  
  
Tony ran from the office all the way down the stairs and outside, to find that it was pouring. He tried to flag down a cab, and once one stopped, he jumped in, giving the man extra to step on it. They made good time until they hit traffic that brought them to a dead stop. Tony wanted to wait it out, but after five minutes, he couldn’t wait any longer. He jumped out of the car and ran the rest of the way, making it to Steve’s apartment less than ten minutes later. He knew he looked like a complete mess, but he didn’t care. All that mattered at the moment was fixing things with Steve and getting him to come back to Vision.  
  
Once he got to the omega’s apartment, Tony didn’t hesitate to start banging on the door. It didn’t take long to get a response but once he did it seemed as though both men were startled. Tony knew Steve had said something, he just wasn’t sure what, and he didn’t waste any time trying to figure it out. He looked up at the omega, realizing how distraught he looked, and just spat out the first thing that came to mind.  
  
“We need to talk...now.”  
  
Steve stepped aside to let the brunet in. They both stood there, awkwardly, before Steve motioned for Tony to sit at the dining table with him.  
  
“Would you like some coffee? Why are you all wet?” Steve asked, moving around, nervously, trying to gather what he needed to prepare coffee.  
  
“I’d love some, thank you. And it’s pouring outside. I...ran half of the way here because I really needed to talk to you.”  
  
Tony noticed the stutter in Steve’s movements at that statement.  
  
“What did you want to talk about?” the blond asked, keeping his back turned.  
  
“Well...I heard you quit and Natasha said it was my fault and I wanted to apologize for asking you on a date for dinner.”  
  
“What?!” Steve asked, seemingly bewildered.  
  
“I just...the only thing I can think of that I did was saying our dinner could be a date, and I figured maybe that made you uncomfortable and I’m sorry. We can stay friends if that’s what you want if it means you’ll come back to Vision.”  
  
Steve slowly walked over to the table, with a look of confusion on his face.  
  
“You think I quit because you asked me on a date?”  
  
“Well...yeah, what else could it be?”  
  
Tony was startled by the bark of laughter that erupted from the omega. His eyes went wide, as he watched Steve laugh for a full minute.  
  
“How is this funny to you?” Tony asked, offended.  
  
“Why would I quit my job because you asked me on a date?!”  
  
“While I admit, it’s not something I would do, something made you quit your job and according to Natasha it’s my fault so unless there’s something else I don’t know that I’ve done…”  
  
Steve’s laughter stopped immediately at that. Tony looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on, but all he saw was the omega seemingly trying to work something out in his mind. Finally, with a sigh, Steve gave Tony the answer he was looking for.  
  
“I went to the doctor the other day and they told me why I’ve been so sick lately,” Steve started, cautiously.  
  
“Ok, and…” Tony prompted him to continue.  
  
“Well, I’ve been getting sick lately because I’ve been dealing with morning sickness. Tony I’m...I’m pregnant.”  
  
It was as if all the air got sucked out of the alpha’s lungs in that moment. He clutched at his chest, trying to ground himself, as he gasped for air.  
  
“Tony, oh my god, are you ok?”  
  
He heard the omega scream, right before everything went dark.  
  
Tony wasn’t sure how long he was out, but he woke up to the feeling of cold water splashing his face. He startled at the feeling, seeing Steve leaning over him when his vision came into focus.  
  
“Oh my god, Tony, are you ok?” Steve asked, reaching out to run his hand down the brunet’s face.  
  
“What happened?” Tony slurred, attempting to sit up.  
  
“You fainted. I told you I’m pregnant, and you fainted.”  
  
Tony let that statement sink in, and felt the urge to bury his head in his hands. He’d never put much thought into what his reaction would be to finding out he had fathered a child, but he most certainly didn’t expect this.  
  
Steve helped the alpha up into his chair, before bringing his seat a little closer.  
  
“So, you’re pregnant,” Tony said, trying out the words for himself, but still having a hard time believing it.  
  
“Yep…”  
  
“And you quit because of that?”  
  
“Well...yeah. I didn’t want to tell you this way, but Coulson promoted me to manager of the graphic design team. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to be the boss of the father of my child, so I figured I’d quit.”  
  
Tony couldn’t keep the small laugh from escaping, but once he saw the slightly angry face Steve was sending him, he stopped.  
  
“Sorry, I’m just trying to understand how this made sense to you, but me thinking you quit because I asked you on a date didn’t.”  
  
The omega considered this for a moment.  
  
“I guess you’re right.”  
  
The pair of them sat there silently for a while, thinking of what to say next. Tony couldn’t quite believe all that was happening, but there was something that needed to be made clear.  
  
“I’ll support you, whatever you want to do,” Tony offered, just above a whisper.  
  
Steve seemed to want to look anywhere other than the alpha, but when he finally did, Tony could see the tears threatening to fall from his eyes.  
  
“I don’t have any family. I lost my dad when I was a kid, and my mom just before I graduated from high school. I never thought much about how much it would mean to me to have someone that I could call family, until I found out about this baby growing inside of me. I want to keep it, Tony. I want to keep this baby.”  
  
Tony noticed the way that Steve was looking down, as if he were bracing for the worst, and his heart sank. He knew in that moment that what he said next would drastically affect their lives forever.  
  
“Well,” Tony started, nervously, “I said I’ll support you and I mean it. If you want to keep this baby, then we’ll just have to try our hardest to be the best parents this kid could ever hope for.”  
  
Steve’s head snapped up at that.  
  
“Tony, are you sure? You don’t have to do this just because I want to keep this baby.”  
  
“I’m not. I’m doing this because you didn’t get into this situation by yourself, so it’s only fair that you don’t go through this by yourself. Plus...I don’t have any family either, and I feel like it’d be nice getting to change that.”  
  
Any doubts that Tony had melted away the second he saw the look on the omega’s face.  
  
“So I guess that’s it then,” Tony said, pushing away any fears that he had about what the future held for them, “ we’re going to be parents.”


	6. Chapter 6

Steve woke up to the now wonderfully familiar feeling of being instantly nauseous. He threw back the covers and ran to the bathroom, barely making it before the contents of his stomach made their way up. Once he felt he was finally finished, he slid over closer to the tub to rest his head on the side. As he sat there, Steve thought back to the day before.  
  
Tony stayed for a few hours after initially finding out that Steve was going to have a baby. They talked about several things: how Steve had been feeling for the past month or so, what happened when he found out, and who knows about the baby. They also discussed Steve quitting his job.  
  
“Look, Coulson promoted me too. I’ll be managing the web dev team, so I mean...we’ll still be working together but not like before. So, with that in mind, maybe you can come back to work?”  
  
It didn’t take much for Steve to agree to come back, once he saw the hopeful look on Tony’s face. But he knew that before he came back to work, he’d have to tell his friends what was happening. It was this, the realization that he would have to face his friends, that kept Steve from getting any real restful sleep that night.  
  
Once Tony left, Steve sent a text to Natasha telling her that he needed to talk to the group. Without even asking, she knew what he wanted to talk about, and assured him that she’d get everyone together. Sitting on the floor in the bathroom, thinking about what he would say to everyone was enough to make Steve feel sick all over again. After a few minutes of deep breathing, the blond resolved to get himself up and moving for the day.  
  
He reached over to turn the water on in the bathtub, quickly deciding he needed the relaxing feeling of a bath instead of a shower. He added the most soothing scents he could find to the water, then ran his hand through to make sure it was the right temperature. When everything was just right, Steve stepped in, letting out a sigh once he was completely settled.  
  
The omega felt his body ease immediately at the touch of the warm water, and though he wanted nothing more than to relax, his mind kept racing. Through all of the terrifying thoughts, though, Steve placed his hand on his stomach and suddenly everything stopped. In that moment, all he could think was _baby_. There was a person growing inside of him and if nothing else, he owed it to this little baby to pull through.  
  
Steve kept that thought in mind as he dressed himself, and made his way to Natasha and Bucky’s apartment. Right as he lifted his hand to knock at their door, he placed his hand on his stomach one more time, promising this baby that no matter what, everything would be ok.  
  
The door swung open to reveal Natasha standing there with a worried look on her face.  
  
“Are you sure you want to do this now?” She asked, in a whisper.  
  
Steve just gave a small nod. She searched his eyes for a moment, and upon seeing his resolve, pulled him into a quick hug before turning to go back into the apartment.  
  
“So, what’s this meeting all about?” Bucky asked, as Steve made his way into the apartment.  
  
The blond took in the faces of all of his friends, wondering what he’d be able to say to explain this to them.  
  
“Look I...have some things I need to explain to you all. I just need you to let me get through what I need to say before anyone else says anything, alright?”  
  
Everyone looked at one another in confusion, but agreed to the terms that were set.  
  
“Alright then. While you were all away for the Christmas holiday, I unexpectedly went into heat. That’s why I had been feeling so awful before then. Tony ended up coming to my apartment out of the blue and found me so he helped me through my heat. To make a long story short I um...the other day I found out that I’m pregnant.”  
  
There was a silence that fell over the room at that. Steve stood there, secretly hoping that he could disappear into thin air at any minute. He surveyed the looks of each friend, noting the sudden look of anger on Bucky’s face.  
  
“Does he know?” Bucky asked, through clenched teeth.  
  
“Yeah. Tony showed up yesterday to ask why I’d resigned and I told him about the baby. We talked and we decided to keep it. I also retracted my resignation.”  
  
Steve wanted to hide the moment he saw the look on Bucky’s face. He desperately wanted to remove himself from the conversation, and just run, but he knew that he owed it to his baby to stay strong. The omega squared his shoulders and lifted his chin in an attempt to show that he wasn’t going to back down. His actions didn’t go unnoticed.  
  
“You want to stand there like you’re ready to fight me on this?” Bucky asked almost shocked.  
  
All Steve could do was give a simple nod.  
  
“I cannot believe how irresponsibly foolish you’ve been,” Bucky started, looking his friend in the eyes, “you think that because you’re carrying Stark’s baby, he’s suddenly going to want a relationship with you? Is that what this is about? Did you just lie to all of us, and set all of this up so you could get your crush to bed you?”  
  
“James,” Natasha spoke in a warning tone.  
  
“No, don’t ‘ _James_ ’ me. Steve has done something so incredibly idiotic, and I want to know why. Why would you be so careless, so reckless, so...so stupid?”  
  
“It was a mistake,” Steve answered, trying to keep calm, “I never meant for any of this to happen, but it did. Tony and I are doing the adult thing here and accepting the consequences of our actions.”  
  
Bucky barked out a laugh at that.  
  
“This is a joke, this has to be a joke. A year ago, you couldn’t even stand the guy. Now you’re standing here telling me you’re carrying his child. Honestly, Steve, what would your mom think if she saw you like this?”  
  
Steve narrowed his eyes at Bucky once those words left his mouth.  
  
“She would probably tell me that she’s disappointed in my carelessness but that she’d still love and support me no matter what. But unfortunately, with her being dead and all, I guess we’ll never know, will we?”  
  
“That’s enough!” Natasha screamed, “You’re both being absolutely ridiculous.”  
  
“Am I though? Steve is being an complete idiot. I would just like to know more about his grand plan to raise this mistake with the dumbass who got him knocked up.”  
  
Steve shot forward and grabbed Bucky by his shirt collar. The growl that ripped through him was enough to stun everyone in the room into silence.  
  
“If I ever hear you say another negative thing about Tony or this baby, I will rip your throat out with my bare hands. Do you understand me? Do you?!”  
  
“Steve, ease up man, you’re hurting him!” Sam yelled.  
  
It took a moment for Steve to realize that he had lifted Bucky from the floor and was pinning the man’s neck to the wall behind them, with his fists. He immediately dropped the brunet to the floor, and stood as he watched Natasha and Clint move in to help him up. They all turned to look at him, bewildered.  
  
“What the hell, man,” Bucky choked out, grasping at his throat.  
  
“I need you all to listen, and listen good because I’m only going to say this once. None of you have to like Tony, but you do have to respect him and the decision that we’ve made. If I see or hear any of you giving him any less than the respect you give me, there will be hell to pay. Understood?”  
  
“Understood,” Natasha spoke, giving Steve a look that was some mix between anger and understanding.  
  
Steve gave a nod before turning to walk out the door. Once he was on the other side, he had to muffle a sob as tears threatened to spill. He had never experienced any feeling like that before in his life, the uncontrollable urge to protect not only this baby but Tony as well. It was a confusing and overwhelming feeling, one that made him want to curl up in his bed and sleep. As long as nobody tried to stop him, Steve resolved to do just that.  
  
\---

  
It had been a full 24 hours since Tony learned that he was going to be a father, and he still couldn’t wrap his head around it. In the back of his mind somewhere he knew he should be more terrified of this than he was, but all he could think of was how he was going to protect what was his. Classifying Steve as ‘his’ was hard enough to come to terms with, and yet still, there was no other way for the alpha to put it. Steve was carrying his child so Tony would have to keep both of them safe, no matter what. Oddly enough, it was that thought, being tasked with looking after two people other than himself that scared the living shit out of the brunet.  
  
 _How the hell am I going to take care of Steve and this baby when I can barely take care of myself?_  
  
That question ran through Tony’s mind for hours. Was he going to be able to do this without fucking up, like he had with everything else he’d ever done? That was too big of a question to answer on his own, Tony realized, and if he wanted help, that meant he’d have to go to his friends. As hard as it was going to be to tell them, Tony knew that he wouldn’t be able to get through this without them. So he sent out a text to just Pepper and Rhodey, asking them to come over for lunch and a talk.  
  
Tony got to making carbonara for lunch to keep his mind busy while he waited for his friends to arrive. The second he heard his doorbell ring, his heart began to beat a mile a minute.  
  
He answered the door with a fake smile plastered on.  
  
“Hey guys,” he greeted, with far too much enthusiasm to seem real.  
  
Pepper gave him a once over and immediately knew something was off.  
  
“I can smell the carbonara, which means you messed up and you need our help,” the blonde said, stepping into the house.  
  
“Why would you think that?” Tony asked, trying not to let on that she was right.  
  
“Literally, every time you screw up, you invite us over here, make carbonara and ask us for help. This is like the fifth time it’s happened!”  
  
Tony stood there and looked from Pepper to Rhodey, silently asking his friend for confirmation on the accusation. Rhodey just gave a slightly apologetic smile and shrugged his shoulders. At that, Tony slumped down into a chair at his kitchen table.  
  
“Ok, listen, Pep is right...I fucked up. And when I say I fucked up I mean like I never have before. This is...this is huge.”  
  
That got his friend’s attention. Both sat down at the table with him, waiting for him to continue. When Tony didn’t say anything further, Rhodey sighed and stood to dish out lunch for both himself and Pepper.  
  
“Now that we’ve got food, will you tell us what’s wrong?” Rhodey asked, returning to his seat.  
  
Tony gave a sheepish nod before looking down at his hands clasped in his lap.  
  
“Alright, so remember way back to our Christmas get together, you know...when Steve flaked?”  
  
“Mmhmm,” both Rhodey and Pepper answered in unison.  
  
“Well, I may or may not have done some drinking after you guys had left, and decided to pay Steve a visit to say ‘fuck you’ but also give him his gift.”  
  
Tony paused, thinking back on that night, now realizing how ridiculous his plan had been. He sighed as he ran a hand over his face and through his hair before continuing.  
  
“I showed up at his apartment and when I saw him...I realized why he hadn’t shown up.”  
  
“What happened?” Rhodey asked, placing his fork on his plate, giving the alpha his full attention.  
  
“Steve was...he uh...he unexpectedly went into heat.”  
  
Rhodey and Pepper looked at each other in that moment. Not entirely sure how to proceed with the conversation, Pepper clapped her hands together and cleared her throat.  
  
“Ok, so he went into heat. What exactly happened and what is it that you fucked up?”  
  
At this point, Tony felt like he was going to burn a hole in the spot on the table he had taken to staring at. There was no way he could continue his story and look his friends in the eye.  
  
“Once I got there and realized what was going on, Steve essentially asked me for help, so I helped. One thing led to another and well...Steve found out the other day that he’s pregnant.”  
  
It seemed as if time stopped at that moment. All Tony wanted was to hear something, anything, from his friends. Yet, minute after painful minute went by with nothing but silence filling the air.  
  
“Say something,” Tony finally uttered, looking up through his lashes at his friends.  
  
“Do you...are you sure the baby is yours?” Rhodey asked, gingerly.  
  
“Of course I’m sure it’s mine,” Tony answered slightly angered at the silent accusation that Steve was lying.  
  
“Are you sure he didn’t plan for this to happen? That he didn’t take advantage of the situation just to rope you into this?” Pepper asked, not even attempting to hide her suspicions.  
  
“I said I’m sure. I only...it only happened once, but past that, we spent two full days together. He didn’t plan for me to come over at two in the morning, and despite what you might be thinking, I was fully capable of preventing this from happening. You’re seeming to focus too much on Steve and not enough of the fact that I’m the fuck up here.”  
  
“Tony,” Pepper started gently, “I warned you about this. I told you that I didn’t want you to get hurt and now you’re telling us this. I don’t want to sound suspicious of Steve but I’ve known you for how long and you’ve never managed to accidently get someone pregnant until now. All I’m saying is that I’m just...worried that there was another motive here.”  
  
“Like what?” Tony asked, now narrowing his eyes.  
  
Again, both Rhodey and Pepper looked at each other, worried. This time, Rhodey spoke up.  
  
“All it takes is some detailed searching to find out about who you are, or rather, who your family is. You and Steve apparently hated each other a year ago, and now he’s pregnant with your baby. That doesn’t seem a little suspect to you at all?”  
  
Tony came from an extremely wealthy family, one that currently owned a huge government contracting corporation. The alpha didn’t like to talk about his background, mainly because of his volatile relationship with his father, but also because he didn’t want to become a target. He knew there were people in the world who would see him as nothing more than a bank roll if they knew where he came from. For that reason, Tony only let a select few know about his family.  
  
“Look,” the brunet began, now somewhat past the point of annoyed, “Steve doesn’t know about my family or my money. I didn’t call you guys over here to question Steve’s motives, I called you over here to help me through the fact that I’m going to be a father soon.”  
  
All three of them sat there now, each letting that statement sink in. After a few moments the sound of Tony’s wheezing cut through the silence.  
  
“Tony?” Pepper asked, suddenly frightened.  
  
The alpha continued taking quick shallow breaths, realizing that he was in the midst of an anxiety attack.  
  
“Tony, honey, you have to breath slowly, ok? Rhodey, get some water…” Pepper instructed as she knelt down in front of the brunet.  
  
He tried his best to adhere to her advice, but Tony just couldn’t find a way to slow his breathing. Rhodey came back with the water, and after putting the glass on the table, he began to rub his hand up and down the alpha’s back. He closed his eyes then, and focused solely on getting his breathing under control. After a few minutes Tony was able to get a handle on things and his panic attack subsided. He reached a shaky hand out to grab the glass of water and took a huge gulp of it, as his friends looked on.  
  
“Tony...are you ok?” Rhodey asked, still keeping his hand on the man’s back.  
  
All Tony could do was shake his head no. Pepper stood and pulled the brunet into a hug.  
  
“Oh Tony,” she spoke, holding him close to her as he sat in his chair.  
  
He wanted to say something, wanted to somehow express the intense emotions he was feeling right now, but only one thing escaped his lips.  
  
“I’m going to be a father.”  
  
\---  
  
Steve woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing. He turned over to see that there was a text from Tony as well as a text from Bucky. Though he’s still upset with him, Steve opened Bucky’s message first.  
  
 _Sorry about earlier. From here on out we’re all here to support you and to help with this baby._  
  
A small smile spread on Steve’s face at that. He quickly typed out a response.  
  
 _Thank you, that means a lot. Also, sorry for the way I reacted._  
  
Steve re-read his words and found that he genuinely meant it. He never intended for things to get as out of hand as they had earlier in the day. He knew his friends weren’t going to be thrilled about his situation, but he knew they would ultimately have his back. It felt good to know that even after the way things had gone, he still had his best friend’s support.  
  
Now that he was more awake, Steve felt better prepared to address the message from Tony.  
  
 _Hey Cap, hope you’re feeling alright today._  
  
He didn’t particularly know why, but the blond felt his heart skip a beat reading that text.  
  
 _Today has been a doozy of a day. The morning sickness is kicking my ass and telling the friends about everything was...interesting. But I’m alright._  
  
Steve put the phone down and closed his eyes for a moment just to think. Bucky might have been a jerk earlier, but he was right about one thing. A year ago, the omega would have laughed, hard, if anyone had tried to tell him that this is where he would be now. He hadn’t really spent much time thinking about who he’d have children with one day, but he couldn’t help but think that he would have liked to know the person a little bit better. Steve had to consciously stop himself from continuing on with those types of thoughts. Though the omega couldn’t honestly say he was happy with the predicament he was in, this baby already meant so much to him.  
  
The blond snapped out of it the second he felt his phone buzz again.  
  
 _Yeah, today’s been a day for me too...mind if I stop by for a bit?_  
  
He didn’t know why, but Tony’s question genuinely took Steve by surprise. He and Tony were definitely friends, but they had never been the type to just hang out, at least not before ...their predicament. He wasn’t sure if he should be excited that Tony suddenly wanted to spend time with him or saddened that it might only be because of the baby. Either way, he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.  
  
 _Not at all, I don’t have anything else planned for the night so come over when you want and I’ll make dinner._  
  
Steve held his breath while he waited for a response, realizing after a moment just how silly he was being.  
  
 _Sure, sounds good, I’ll bring something for dessert! Be over in a bit!_  
  
The blond smiled down at his phone, looking forward to Tony’s visit, until he realized that he didn’t actually have a single thing to cook for dinner. He quickly scrambled to his feet to make himself look presentable enough to go grocery shopping. When he was finally ready, he called for a taxi and went outside to wait. Once the cab picked him up, Steve began to run through any and all recipes he could think of but nothing really sounded good. He figured he would just relax and wait until he got to the store to see what he was in the mood for.  
  
The second the omega stepped in the store, however, he was suddenly overwhelmed with an intense craving for fruit. Walking through the produce section, Steve stopped by each and every single fruit considering whether or not he could fit it into dinner somehow. After a few minutes he decided he didn't much care whether or not he could fit certain fruits into dinner and just put almost everything in sight into his cart.  
  
As he walked throughout the rest of the store, he continued to put all fruit related items in his cart. Fruit juice, fruit popsicles, fruit roll ups, and five different flavors of apple sauce all ended up alongside the fresh produce in the shopping cart. Looking at his items, Steve felt somewhat pleased with what he’d managed to pick out, and headed for the registers to check out.  
  
It took Steve going home, unloading the groceries, and preparing the most intense fruit salad he'd ever seen in his life to realize that maybe he'd gone a little overboard and maybe he should have actually bought something dinner related. Unfortunately, this epiphany hit him all too late as he suddenly heard a knock at the door. He greeted Tony with a sorrowful and apologetic look.  
  
"Is everything alright?" Tony asked walking into the apartment looking worried.  
  
"So...I may have made a mistake," Steve answered, bringing the alpha into his kitchen. His eyes widened upon seeing all the fruit and fruit flavored items.  
  
"Are you planning to open a smoothie shop in here?"  
  
"No, it's just I went to the store to buy something for dinner and...I had a super intense craving for fruit."  
  
The pair of them stood there before Tony burst out laughing hysterically.  
  
"Why are you laughing?" Steve asked, sounding slightly wounded.  
  
"I knew cravings were a thing but I had no clue that could be this adorable!"  
  
As Tony continued his laughing fit, his words hit the omega, causing him to blush a little.  
  
 _He thinks I'm being adorable..._  
  
Steve thought, with a small smile on his face.  
  
"Well...would you at least like to try some of the fruit salad that I made?" The blond asked, gesturing toward the very large bowl of mixed fruits.  
  
Tony gave an enthusiastic nod as he made his way to the table to take a seat. Steve hesitantly dished out the salad, wondering if the brunet would like it or not. Once he was done, the omega took a seat and excitedly dug in. After two bites, though, he began to pout into his bowl.  
  
“This is really good,” Tony spoke, mouth slightly full of fruits, only to look up and notice Steve’s sad look.  
  
“---Are you ok?” he asked, now a little worried again.  
  
Steve just gave a sigh.  
  
“All this fruit. I bought all this fruit because of how intensely I was craving them, and after two bites...the craving is gone. I have no desire to even finish this!”  
  
The blond looked up at the man across from him, who was in the midst of trying desperately to stifle a laugh.  
  
  
“Are you kidding me right now?” Tony questioned in between giggles.  
  
Steve shook his head, feeling himself pout harder than he had in his adult life. The alpha barked out a full laugh this time, but shook his head with a smile on his face.  
  
“Come on, Cap, let’s go get some real food.”  
  
\---  
  
Tony sat there across from Steve, watching the omega struggle to choose exactly what he wanted to eat. Once they had decided to go out for food, Steve almost immediately suggested going for breakfast food. Tony was more than happy to oblige thinking the blond knew exactly what he wanted. However, 20 minutes into their stay at IHOP, and after the fifth time of Steve looking through the menu front to back, Tony just smiled to himself.  
  
The alpha had finally started coming to terms with the fact that he had feelings for Steve, even before finding out about the baby. Tony was fairly certain that it was next to impossible for the omega to be any more adorable than he was regularly until he walked into Steve's apartment that day. He had been so embarrassed to tell the alpha about his shopping mishap, but Tony swore he was going to die right then and there looking at the blond’s face. All he wanted was to grab the man and give him a kiss at that moment, but he thought better of it, and just laughed.  
  
Thinking back on that moment now, Tony realized he’d probably need to dissect the fact that he wanted to kiss Steve, at some point. But for now he was perfectly happy just sitting with the omega, watching his endless struggle to determine what to order.  
  
"What's got you puzzled?" Tony finally asked, breaking the silence between them.  
  
"I feel like I want regular breakfast, you know bacon, eggs, pancakes. But I also feel like I want an omelette. I don't think I could eat all that though so I don't really know what to do," Steve answered, with a pout.  
  
"Why don't you get a bacon temptation omelette and then a side of pancakes?"  
  
The look of sheer amazement on Steve’s face at the thought of Tony’s suggestion was enough to make the alpha give a small laugh. From the time that the waiter came to take their orders up until their food was delivered, Steve was beaming with happiness and excitement for his meal. As the blond prepared to dig into the plate in front of him, Tony just smiled and shook his head.  
  
“What’s that look for?” Steve asked cutting into his omelette.  
  
“You’re a mess,” Tony answered around a laugh.  
  
“Am I a...hot mess?” Steve asked, looking up through his lashes.  
  
Tony couldn’t even stop the bark of laughter that he let out at that.  
  
“Oh, honey, you’re the definition of a hot mess,” the alpha responded.  
  
“Alright, good. As long as I’m hot, being a mess sucks a whole lot less.”  
  
The pair of them then went on to eat their meals in silence for a few moments, exchanging glances and smiles every so often.  
  
“So,” Steve started, before taking a sip of his orange juice, “what’d you do today?”  
  
Tony gave a small sigh, and wiped his mouth with his napkin before looking up at the man in front of him.  
  
“Well, I told my friends about the baby, and may or may not have induced a panic attack in the process…”  
  
“I can do you one better,” the omega challenged, “I told my friends about the baby and ended up pinning my best friend to the wall in a choke hold after growling at everyone in the apartment.”  
  
“That bad, huh?” Tony asked, glossing over the fact that he was impressed but also sad that he missed a side of Steve that, quite frankly, sounded hot as hell.  
  
“Yeah, it was...it was something,” Steve answered, looking down at his plate, seemingly sad.  
  
“Hey listen,” Tony began, reaching out to take the blond’s hand, “I meant what I said yesterday. We’re in this together.”  
  
The shy smile that Steve gave in response was enough to take Tony’s breath away. It was several minutes before either of them moved their hand, but after that they returned to the same comfortable silence they had started with, as they finished their food.  
  
Sitting there watching Steve, Tony wondered what the man would look like in the following months as their baby grew inside of him. He liked the thought of seeing the omega with a belly and knowing that it was because of him. There were a lot of implications that thought had, but for now, Tony was happy to push figuring them out later.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been four weeks since Steve had found out that he was pregnant, and though the morning sickness was still hitting him full force, and things had been a little rocky between him and his friends in the beginning, things were going relatively well. Returning to Vision and explaining his reasoning for quitting to Coulson was a bit terrifying, but he just dismissed the whole incident with some amount of confusion, which seemed to be most people’s reaction.  
  
Outside of his group of friends, anyone that he told seemed to be dumbstruck by the news that the two people who a year ago could barely communicate without yelling at each other were going to have a baby. There was some part of Steve that thought he should feel embarrassed or ashamed that he accidentally got knocked up by a guy he previously couldn’t stand. But he knew that this baby deserved not to be hidden or made to feel like a mistake, even if it was unplanned. So, he would walk into any conversation with his head held high, and proudly tell those around him that yes, he was having a baby and yes, Tony Stark was the father. More often than not he was met with a ‘congratulations’ that sounded more like a question than a statement but he always accepted it all the same.  
  
The blond really thought that he had conquered his initial fears about this pregnancy up until the day that he was cornered by Pepper on his way back to his office.  
  
“Hello…” Steve offered, as Pepper blocked his way.  
  
“We need to talk,” she spoke, voice as serious as her expression.  
  
“Oh...alright well...follow me to my office?” Steve asked, beginning to feel nervous about whatever was coming.  
  
As the pair of them walked, the omega began to feel his heart race, trying to determine what they could possibly have to discuss. The second they got to his office and shut the door, Pepper took a seat, waiting patiently for Steve to sit as well, before she began.  
  
“Look, you know by now that Tony's told us about the baby. Now that everyone else knows, I figured it'd be a good time to talk to you about everything."  
  
Steve gave a small nod for her to continue, knowing that there wasn't a single part of this that he'd be looking forward to.  
  
"I've known Tony for what feels like forever and other those years I've seen a lot of people come into his life who wanted nothing but to use him. I know you haven't known him very long, at least not long enough to notice this but the one thing Tony wants more than anything is to be accepted and liked by those around him. It's because of this that he goes to great lengths to please people he cares about, whether or not his actions are in his best interest."  
  
"I'm not using him, and the last thing I want to do is hurt him," Steve interjected.  
  
“I get that,” Pepper began, looking down as she smoothed out the skirt of her dress, “but I have heard that before from people who ended up doing just that. So you’ll have to forgive me for being a little weary.”  
  
Pepper looked up, and met Steve’s eyes, giving him an apologetic smile that sent a shiver down the omega’s spine.  
  
“I know that I might sound cold, I’m just looking out for my best friend. Aside from the fact that he wants to do the right thing, he actually cares a lot about you. So all that I ask is that you always keep his best interest at heart.”  
  
The two of them sat there for a moment, in silence, as Steve considered Pepper’s words.  
  
“So, even though I’m terrified right now, I understand what you’re saying and why you’re saying it. I’m genuinely glad that Tony has someone like you in his life to protect him.”  
  
Pepper studied Steve’s expression, before offering a sincere smile.  
  
“Ok, good. I’m glad you understand where I’m coming from with this, because I contrary to how it may seem, I do like you. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on, so it’s best to get these kinds of things out of the way sooner rather than later. Anyway, now that that’s settled, I’ll get out of your hair.”  
  
Pepper stood and walked to the door to see herself out, stopping to turn and share one last thought.  
  
“If you ever need anything, for the baby or otherwise, don’t ever hesitate to ask. All of Tony’s friends and I are here for you.”  
  
Once he was alone in his office, Steve took a deep breath. He spun around in his chair to face the window behind him as he placed his hands on his small belly.  
  
“Hey there baby,” the omega spoke in a hushed voice, “you’re causing a lot of fuss already even though you’re still so small. But no matter what, you’re worth it.”  
  
Steve sat there like that, surveying the world right outside his office with his hand on his belly, soaking it all in. Under his hand, there was a baby growing, _his_ baby growing. That fact was enough to put a smile on his face for the rest of the afternoon.  
  
\---  
  
Since taking on the new position as head of the web development team, Tony had been nothing but swamped. He welcomed the busyness, as he was beyond excited to be given the chance to do this for a living, but with all of the craziness of the new position came a whole new world of stress. It often felt like there were too many tasks and not enough hours in the day to complete them. On top of that, he now wanted to make more of an effort to spend time with Steve. So, day in and day out, Tony slept less so he could do more.  
  
Initially, this plan seemed to work well. The alpha always figured he never needed much sleep to begin with, so it was nice to feel more productive. But, as the days, then the weeks went on, he seemingly became more and more irritable. Those around him could see that something was wrong, but they all just chalked it up to him having a hard time adjusting to all the changes in his life. It is because of this that most people just tip toed around Tony, unless absolutely necessary. He figured out what was going on, but couldn’t be bothered to set anyone straight, since this ultimately afforded him the chance to work uninterrupted.  
  
That’s why Tony was actually stunned when his office door opened, without so much as a warning knock, to reveal a very stern faced Bucky.  
  
“Hi?” Tony asked, all too confused by the visit.  
  
“We need to talk,” Bucky offered, taking a seat.  
  
“Alright, what about?”  
  
“You know what about. I’ve been keeping my distance since I found out about Steve being pregnant, but I think it’s time we actually talked about this.”  
  
When Tony woke up that day, he had some sort of feeling that the day wasn’t going to go all that well. Having Bucky here was enough to confirm that that feeling was correct.  
  
“Okay,” Tony started, turning to give the man in front of him his full attention, “what exactly do we need to talk about? I’m sure by now you know that I intend to stand by Steve and this baby.”  
  
“I know that’s what you’ve told him, but whether or not you’ll actually follow through with that is still up in the air.”  
  
The two of them sat there, studying each other. As alphas, they obviously wanted to establish dominance in this situation, but it seemed like they were fighting to establish something else as well.  
  
Tony narrowed his eyes at Bucky before offering his award winning smile. Bucky responded with a smile of his own and after a moment, both men offered up a small laugh.  
  
“Look, I grasp that you’re Steve’s best friend, more than that, you’re practically his brother. I’m sorry that things happened the way they did, but this is the situation we’re in so all any of us can do is try to make the best of it. That’s all I’m trying to do. I’m trying to accept responsibility for my actions and do the right thing.”  
  
Bucky gave a sigh and leaned back in his chair.  
  
“I get why Steve wants this baby, but not you. I don’t see what you’re getting out of this. Is this just some way for you to make sure you’re tied to Steve forever?”  
  
At that, the smile on Tony’s face falls, and gives way to a warning snarl.  
  
“What I am _getting_ out of this is a child. This may not have been planned, but this baby is just as important to me as it is to Steve. There’s no gimmick or plot here and whether you like it or not, Steve and I have one common goal now, and that’s to keep this baby safe. But I can promise you I will protect what is mine at any cost, don’t ever question that.”  
  
It took only a few moments for Bucky to relax, if only a little, at Tony’s words.  
  
“Okay...okay. I’m essentially the only family that Steve has, so I had to come and make sure you knew that our group welcomes you. But if you falter on that promise, to protect Steve and this baby, I will kill you with my own bare hands. Got it?” Bucky asked, with a tone that somehow conveyed both the lightheartedness in his offer of friendship but the seriousness in his threat.  
  
Tony just offered the first genuine smile he’d given Bucky since the man entered his office.  
  
“Yeah, I got it.”  
  
Bucky gave a small nod, before standing to leave. Tony immediately closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, in an effort focus his mind on the task he was on before he was interrupted. He then heard his phone buzz, with a message, as if the world was trying to tell him that he needed to take a break. Tony smiled the moment he saw that the message was from Steve.  
  
_Don’t forget, we’ve got our first ultrasound tomorrow morning. Can’t wait!_  
  
Tony took a deep breath at that and felt a mix of fear and pride. He was going to get to see his baby for the first time, and if that wasn’t incentive enough for him to push through all of this, Tony didn’t know what was.  
  
\---  
  
Steve sat in the waiting room looking down at his phone once more to see that it in fact was 8:30 am. He had called tony three times, and sent half a dozen texts with no response. He wanted to think that something was wrong, that Tony was hurt or that there had been an accident and that was why he wasn’t responding. However, there was a voice inside his head, screaming that he knew this would happen. This was Tony’s way of letting the omega know that he changed his mind and wasn’t interested in helping him raise their baby. That thought hurt more than anything, but Steve didn’t have the time to process it before he was being called into the doctor’s office.  
  
“Hello Mr. Rogers. My name is Dr. Banner and I’ll be looking after you during this pregnancy. Let’s get started, shall we?”  
  
The brunet smiled down at Steve as he sat on the exam table, nervous as ever.  
  
“Alright, I’m going to take your blood pressure, along with some routine vitals before we listen for the baby’s heartbeat and do the ultrasound.”  
  
Steve just nodded, now feeling the full weight of his nerves. His hand itched to reach for his phone, to call Tony one final time, but he knew it’d be best to just focus on the doctor’s words and instructions.  
  
“Is everything ok?” Dr. Banner asked preparing to take the omega’s blood pressure.  
  
“Truth be told, I was waiting for the uh...a friend to with me but they never showed.”  
  
“A friend, huh?” the doctor smiled around the question.  
  
Steve knew he wasn’t fooling anyone with that simplification of his relationship but he just didn’t know how to explain his situation. Luckily, the doctor didn’t press the situation any further as he continued on with the examination. Steve sat through everything, mindlessly answering any and all questions, just wanting to be home and so he could sleep the day away, until he heard the sound. There was a somewhat rhythmic thumping that permeated the air around him  
  
"Wha...what's that?" Steve asked, barely above a whisper.  
  
"Well Steve, that would be your baby' heartbeat. And from the sound of it, they seem just as excited to meet you too." Dr. Banner answered with a warm smile.  
  
Steve sat there and continued to listen as the sound took him over. The only word he could think to describe this moment was overwhelming, but only in the best way possible.  
  
“So, are you ready to see your baby now?” Dr. Banner asked, question slightly masked by the still vibrant heart beat.  
  
Steve wanted nothing more than to sit here and listen to his baby forever, but the thought of actually getting to see his child for the first time was too amazing to pass up. The omega wordlessly gave a nod for the doctor to start the ultrasound. Steve winced slightly at the feel of the gel as it was squirted onto his belly, and he held his breath as Dr. Banner began to move the wand around. Once he found what he was looking for, he held the wand still.  
  
“You see this little black mass right here? That would be your baby.” Dr. Banner spoke with a smile.  
  
Steve finally let out the breath he had been holding in the form of a laugh mixed with a sob. He continued to laugh as tears fell from his eyes, overjoyed by getting to see this, getting to see the little life that was growing inside of him was there on a screen for all the world to see. He couldn’t help but reach a hand out to touch the mass on screen that was his baby just to make sure it was all real.  
  
“Alright, well I’ll be right back with your sonogram, but I’ll give you a few minutes,” the doctor said, more to let Steve know that the appointment was coming to an end.  
  
As he sat there on his own, laying on the exam table, Steve couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear while thinking about what he had just seen. Seeing and hearing his baby was a surreal experience and he knew he would remember this forever. There was a knock at the door before the doctor came back in holding a folder. Steve vaguely listened to Dr. Banner’s words as he talked of future appointments and gave his congratulations.  
  
Once he was finally alone, outside waiting for his taxi, Steve opened the folder to look at the sonogram, but this time he laid a hand on his belly, feeling both happiness mixed with sadness. He wanted to share this with Tony, but it seemed that the alpha wanted no part in this. That was ok, Steve resolved. Looking down at the sonogram as he stroked his belly, Steve promised his baby that even on his own he would be more than enough.  
  
\---  
  
Tony woke up in a haze to the annoying shrill of the alarm on his cell phone. He blindly searched for the phone on his nightstand, refusing to lift his head or open his eyes. Once he caught hold of it, he vowed to smash it against the wall as soon as he turned the alarm off. In doing so, he not only realized the texts and missed calls from Steve, but he realized the time. It was 10:00 am, and he had slept in.  
  
The day before, almost immediately after Bucky left his office, Coulson stopped by to let Tony know that one of his deadlines had been pushed forward. As if he wasn’t overworked and stressed enough without this added weight of this deadline added to the mix. All he could do was grumble under his breath but get to work and hope he’d be able to get at least a couple hours of sleep that night.  
  
Thankfully, he was able to stroll into his house around 5 am. He set five or six different alarms to make sure he was up and ready for Steve’s appointment. Tony went to sleep with more nervous excitement than he thought possible, but woke with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He read through each text message and listened to each voicemail that Steve left, noting the increasing sense of sorrow in his words, written and spoken. He knew that the omega must have been hurt by his absence, and he needed to make this right.  
  
Tony wracked his brain to think of who he could call to see if Steve had come into work without letting on about missing the appointment. He quickly dialed Carol’s number and waited for her to pick up.  
  
“Tony? Why are you calling me right now? Where are you?” Carol asked in a hushed voice.  
  
“No time to explain, I just need you to let me know whether or not Steve’s at work.”  
  
“Wanna add a please to that?”  
  
Tony gave an irritated sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.  
  
“Please,” he barked out, not even trying to hide his annoyance.  
  
“Fine. I’ll text you in a few,” Carol spoke before hanging up abruptly.  
  
Tony jumped up to get dressed while he waited, and scrambled across the room when he heard a text notification.  
  
_Had a doctor’s appt. this morning. Working from home the rest of the day._  
  
Tony quickly responded with his thanks before calling an Uber to take him to go see Steve. The entire ride over, he tried to sort everything out, figure out what he was going to say. But the second he got to the omega’s door, his mind went blank. He reached up to knock, feeling his heart racing. When Steve finally answered the door, he had a look of annoyed anger on his face.  
  
“What?” The blond asked, leaning on the door frame.  
  
“I came as soon as I could, I need to apologize and explain myself,” Tony offered, sparing no time to take a breath until he got his message across.  
  
Steve just rolled his eyes at the statement.  
  
“Look, I got your message loud and clear, Tony. I won’t be bothering you anymore. You don’t have to pretend that you want to be here for me or the baby. I’ll be just fine on my own.”  
  
The blond moved to shut the door in Tony’s face, but the alpha stopped it with his foot.  
  
“Hold on a minute, that’s not what happened. Just let me come in and explain--”  
  
“No. I have work to do and I’m exhausted. I don’t have time to put up with your shit anymore, okay?”  
  
“I’ll go if you want me to, I swear, just listen to what I have to say,” Tony pleaded.  
  
Steve stood there for a few minutes before stepping aside to let the shorter man into his apartment.  
  
“You have five minutes,” the omega said, taking a seat in the living room.  
  
Tony began to wring his hands as he paced back and forth trying to figure out where to start.  
  
“Okay...well, I’ve been unbelievably busy lately. I know you know this because we’ve talked about it --”  
  
“So you’re trying to tell me that you were too busy to make time for this, is that it?” Steve interrupted.  
  
“No, I just...ugh, okay let me start over. I’ve been working more and sleeping less lately. With the new position and the news about the baby, I’m just trying to make sure that I’m doing my best for the team and trying to prepare for what’s ahead of us. I’m overworked and exhausted, but I know that these things need to be done so the only sacrifice I can make is in my sleep. I got word from Coulson yesterday that one of my deadlines got pushed forward, and in an effort to minimize the amount of time I would have to spend on this later, I worked until 5 am this morning. I was only supposed to sleep for two hours and somehow I didn’t wake up until 10. I am so sorry that I missed your appointment, it was a total accident, you have to believe that.”  
  
Steve looked up at him for a moment, then down at his belly, as he placed his hand there, softly.  
  
“I sat in that waiting room for half an hour, calling and texting you. Hoping you were just running late, that your phone died, that there had been an accident...anything that would explain you not showing up. I wanted so badly to believe that you were trying to get to me, to us, but in the end I convinced myself that this was your way of letting me know that you were backing out.”  
  
To hear Steve say those words tore Tony apart. The moment he saw a tear fall down the omega’s face, he dropped to his knees to wipe it away.  
  
“I didn’t back out and I’m not now. Please, Steve you have to know that I wouldn’t do that to you...either of you.”  
  
Steve’s blue eyes met Tony’s and the sadness there was enough to break the alpha.  
  
“You missed it. You missed hearing this baby’s heartbeat; seeing them for the first time. It was the best moment of my life, because it confirmed that this wasn’t a dream and that this baby is real and you missed that.”  
  
“I’m sorry, Steve. I’m so sorry. Please, I promise from here on out I’ll never miss anything again, just...please forgive me and give me a chance to make up for this.”  
  
Steve looked away at that, seemingly trying to compose himself and hide the additional tears that fell.  
  
“I um…” Steve started, finally turning back to look at the brunet, “I need you to understand something. If nothing else, you need to do right by this baby. I can handle being lied to and having my hopes dashed, but I will not tolerate that when it comes to this child.”  
  
“Of course, of course, I understand,” Tony responded, hurriedly.  
  
“Alright, good. As long as we’re on the same page about that then I’ll give you a chance to make up for this.”  
  
Tony sprang forward to wrap his arms around the man in front of him in a hug. The positioning was awkward, given the fact that Steve was sitting, but Tony didn’t care.  
  
“Thank you thank you thank you!” the alpha repeated.  
  
Steve cleared his throat after a moment, and Tony fell backward, in an attempt to give the blond space.  
  
“Sorry, I...sorry.”  
  
“It’s ok,” Steve offered with a small smile, “but I really should get back to work now, so…”  
  
“Oh, yeah definitely, that’s fine. I’ll get out of your hair, just...come by tonight around 7, alright? We never really did have that dinner date, so I figure making you an apology dinner would be as good a time as any.”  
  
“You’re trying to combine a date with an apology?” Steve asked, with a smirk and raised eyebrow.  
  
Tony scrambled for any way to get himself out of the hole he was digging himself further into, until he realized that the omega was just giving him a hard time.  
  
“The only thing I’m better at than cooking is apologizing, so trust me, you’re in for a treat.”  
  
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Steve responded, standing to walk Tony out.  
  
“So...see you tonight?” Tony asked, just to confirm that he indeed was being given a second chance.  
  
Steve smiled down at him sweetly before giving a single nod.  
  
“See you tonight.”  
  
Tony left the apartment building feeling like a hole had just been ripped through him. He was more than excited that Steve was letting him make up for his mistake, but he couldn’t shake what the man had said. He missed the first time his baby’s heartbeat was broadcast out into the world, and getting to be one of the first to witness the sight of his baby. It hurt, knowing that this milestone was lost to him forever, but all he could do now was be there for both Steve and the baby for every milestone hereafter.  
  
The brunet decided to walk a bit to clear his head and figure out exactly what he was going to do for Steve that night. He had eight hours to go shopping, get his house in order, and prepare dinner. It sounded like more than enough time, and yet Tony almost broke into a sweat thinking of all the possibilities and all that needed to be done. He quickly took a mental inventory of what he knew he had in the house and what he could quickly do with it all. Thankfully, he had all of the ingredients he needed to make one of his favorite meals.  
  
Tony rushed home and got to putting everything he needed together. Dinner was going to take about seven hours in his slowcooker, but that gave him enough time to get the rest of the house in order. The alpha ran around the house, straightening up and sorting through everything to come up with what he thought might be the perfect date. Before he knew it, it was already 6 and he still had yet to shower and change.  
  
Tony moved quickly, wasting no time once he got into the shower. He was in and out in under 20 minutes, which was a personal best for the brunet. He took great care rifling through his closet to pick out something that made him look good without saying he tried too hard, then styled his hair to give off the same impression. Once he was fully put together he took a look at the clock to see that he had fifteen minutes to spare. As if on que, the doorbell rang, sending a mass of butterflies into a whirlwind in Tony’s stomach.  
  
The alpha quickly made his way to the door and took a deep breath, steadying himself before opening it to reveal Steve, wearing a dark blue pullover that seemingly hugged every curve of his body and grey khakis that did the same. He let out a breath, feeling like the wind had just been knocked out of him. Steve gave him a small smirk at that.  
  
“So, are you just going to stand there or are you actually got to let me into your house?” The blond asked, lightheartedly.  
  
Tony shook out of it then, and stood aside to let the man in.  
  
“Yes, sorry, please come in”  
  
Steve surveyed his surroundings as if it were his first time coming over.  
  
“This place looks a lot different when it’s not filled with people and decorated for Halloween,” Steve spoke, slowly making his way to the kitchen.  
  
“Yeah it’s...it’s a lot bigger when it’s just me here all by myself,” Tony answered, now feeling like he’d exposed too much of himself than he’d originally intended.  
  
“That’s ok,” Steve replied, stopping to turn and look at the brunet, “ that just means you’ve got more space to fill with your friends and the people you care about. And hey, if you really are as good a cook as you say, maybe we can put together a dinner party for our friends some time.”  
  
“Yeah...I think I’d like that,” Tony answered, feeling something well up inside of him that he tried to ignore.  
  
They continued on their way to the kitchen, and once there, Steve closed his eyes and breathed in, deeply, to take in the aroma.  
  
“It smells absolutely amazing in here, what did you make?”  
  
“Ah, I made one of my favorites. I figured comfort food is never a bad way to go so I made a maple bourbon pot roast.”  
  
Steve gave Tony a very confused and wary look that only solicited a bark of laughter from the alpha.  
  
"It's okay, Steve. All the alcohol or cooked off at this point. The bourbon's only in there for flavor."  
  
"Oh...okay," Steve replied, still seeming unsure.  
  
Tony just busied himself removing everything from the crock pot and dishing a plate for each of them. Once he set the plates on the table, he turned to get them each a glass of water. The alpha sat and watched as Steve began to dig into the plate in front of him. He took a small experimental bite, but once he got a full taste of the roast, his eyes went wide in surprise.  
  
“Tony this is...this is absolutely amazing,” the omega praised, going in for a larger bite this time.  
  
“Thank you. I always loved pot roast growing up so once I moved out on my own and started learning how to cook for myself I spent a good deal of time trying to find a pot roast recipe that I could call my own. This one right here, this is all me,” Tony boasted, taking a bite of his meal.  
  
“Well, thank you for sharing this with me. Hopefully I’ll get to try more of your favorites soon?” Steve asked, more than stated, almost refusing to meet Tony’s eyes.  
  
The blond had this way of getting all shy and soft spoken when he thinks he’s being a little too forward, and Tony found it absolutely endearing.  
  
“How is it,” Tony began, laying down his fork in an attempt to get the omega’s attention, “that you are this cute all the time? Is this new or was I just completely blind for the first three years we worked together?”  
  
The slight blush that his words garnered was too much for the brunet to handle. He just smiled and went right back to eating his dinner.  
  
“I would love to share more of my favorite foods with you,” Tony finally replied, earning a bashful smile from the man sitting across for him.  
  
They made quick work of their meal, and though he had to practically rip Steve away from the sink and the dirty dishes he was intent on washing, Tony was finally able to get them both settled on the couch.  
  
“So...I was thinking maybe we could watch a movie,” Tony spoke, not entirely sure if Steve would even be interested in staying later.  
  
“Yeah, that’d be nice, but first...I have something to show you.,” the blond answered, standing to pull out his wallet.  
  
He opened it up and took out what looked like a small picture, slowly handing it over to the brunet. It seemed as though Steve was holding his breath, waiting for Tony to realize what he was looking at. But once he did, once Tony figured it out, he looked up at the omega, hopeful.  
  
“Is this…” Tony began.  
  
Steve sat back down, only this time much closer to the alpha, and pointed at a small black mass.  
  
“That right there is our baby.”  
  
Tony looked at the sonogram for a moment, letting it all sink in, and suddenly, without thinking, he took Steve’s face in his hands and kissed him. Though the blond was taken by surprise, it didn’t take long for him to return the kiss. But almost as quickly as it began, Tony pulled back, now thinking better of himself.  
  
“I’m...I’m sorry, I just got so excited looking at the sonogram and you called it our baby and I just...sorry,” Tony rambled on, only being stopped by Steve taking hold of his face.  
  
“Tony, really...it’s okay.”  
  
“Okay, alright...good. Uh, I um, I figured since we never got a chance to watch my favorite holiday movie back in December, maybe we could watch it now?” Tony asked, suddenly nervous.  
  
Steve gave him a warm smile before sitting back on the couch.  
  
“I’d like that a lot.”  
  
He seemed genuinely excited once he realized that they would be watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, but twenty minutes into the movie, Steve was knocked out and laying with his head resting in the brunet’s lap. Tony had long since stopped paying attention to the movie, in favor of continuing to look at the sonogram. The more he looked at it, the more surreal it all seemed. Looking down at the image in his hand, he slowly began to focus on Steve. He stroked his hand through the blond head of hair, eventually moving to stroke the man’s arm, and finally resting his hand on the omega’s belly.  
  
“Hi there, baby,” Tony whispered, “since I got to see you for the first time tonight, I figured I should introduce myself.”  
  
Sitting here, hand resting on Steve’s belly where their baby was growing, Tony couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with joy. He let out a small laugh as tears started to well up in his eyes at the thought of his next works.  
  
“I just wanted to make sure you know that I’m...I’m your dad.”


	8. Chapter 8

As time passed, Steve and Tony continued on as they did the night they had that first dinner date. Every so often, they would make dinner together then just spend the rest of the evening cuddled up. And if a few kisses were exchanged here and there or if they happened to engage in a makeout session like a bunch of teenagers every so often, well...that was just fine with them. Even if it did raise too many questions to count, for the omega at least.  
  
Steve constantly spent time wondering what it meant every time Tony would pull him into a kiss, or lace their fingers together while they were alone. He wanted to believe that the alpha was falling for him just as hard as he had, but he knew better than to entertain that thought for too long. He didn’t know what this was between the two of them, but he did know that right now, it was enough.  
  
The pair of them at on Steve’s couch, mindlessly watching the Game Show network, each seeming to be in their own world, when Tony suddenly turned to look at the blond.  
  
“So you’re coming up on four months now, and I read that that’s around the time that you can find out what Bug will be. Would you maybe be interested in doing that?”  
  
Somehow over the course of the last two months, everyone had taken to calling this baby Bug. Steve felt like he should have been bothered by it, but he couldn’t seem to move past how absolutely amazing it was that everyone else was beginning to love this baby as much as he did.  
  
“Yeah,” he answered, absently rubbing his much more noticeable belly, “I think it’d be nice to know whether Bug is a boy or a girl.”  
  
“Hmm,” Tony responded, looking as though he was deep in thought.  
  
“Something on your mind?”  
  
“Well, we can’t keep calling this kid Bug forever, it’ll need a name. Any thoughts on that one?”  
  
Steve sat there for a bit, trying to soak this moment in, as he had done with most of their conversations lately. Going through all of this was surreal enough, but getting to share all of it with Tony made everything that much better.  
  
“I’ve had a name floating around my head for a while, but I didn’t really know what you’d think of it,” Steve answered.  
  
“Lay it on me,” Tony responded, now seeming just as excited as he was intrigued.  
  
“Okay, well I lost my dad when I was fairly young, but my grandpa, my ma’s father, was always around to help look after us. He passed away when I was 12, and even though I’ve missed him every day since, I know he’s always with me. His name was Mason, so I was thinking maybe that could be a contender,” Steve finished, feeling a little nervous about what Tony would think.  
  
“I’m sorry to hear that you lost your grandpa after going through losing your dad too, but I really like that name. I think Mason would be a great name.”  
  
Steve let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding but gave a small smile at that.  
  
“What about you, do you have any names in mind?” He asked, now exhibiting the same curiosity and excitement that he’d witnessed from the alpha just moments before.  
  
“Oh I uhm...I was thinking maybe we could use my mom’s middle name, Alexandra. We could keep it as it for a girl, or use Alexander for a boy. Either one would make a strong middle name,” Tony offered, with a sense of sadness in his voice.  
  
“I like both of those a lot, actually!” Steve began, in an attempt to brighten the brunet’s spirits “I guess now we’ll need a potential first name if Bug turns out to be a girl.”  
  
“Not necessarily,” Tony offered, looking contemplative.  
  
“What do you mean not necessarily? We can’t just not give our daughter a name!”  
  
“Well of course we have to give her a name, but I’m saying...maybe we don’t need a different one other than the one you initially suggested.”  
  
Steve looked at Tony, silently willing him to just spell out what he was thinking. The brunet just smiled and rolled his eyes fondly.  
  
"Mason Alexander for a boy and Mason Alexandra for a girl," Tony spoke, simply.  
  
Steve considered both names, thought what it would be like to finally their baby and have a legitimate name for them, and a wide smile broke out onto his face.  
  
"Boy or girl, we're gunna have a little baby Mason...I like it!"  
  
Tony responded with a smile of his own at Steve's words and the blond couldn't help the butterflies he felt in that moment.  
  
“Alright, well now that that’s settled,” Tony began, “who’s going to tell Clint that we’re not naming our kid after him?”  
  
Steve laughed, hard, at that. In the months since telling their friends about their baby, both groups seemed to find a way to move past their personal feelings to get along. As much as Tony pretended to hate Clint, they had actually become pretty good friends. It felt like every aspect of life was coming together, and now that their baby finally had a name, Steve felt as though they were slowly becoming a family. That thought, of not only adding new friends, but a new life to those he called his family was enough to fill Steve’s heart to bursting.  
  
\---  
  
Tony was sitting awake, as per usual on nights like this, talking to Steve’s belly. The omega had decided to take a short nap after all the excitement of picking out a name and wondering about what they would be having, but he’d been out like a light for the better part of two hours now. Tony usually waited, until he knew for sure that Steve was sound asleep before talking to the baby. He didn’t know what it was, but he just liked knowing that these conversations were somewhat of a secret between him and Bug.  
  
“Hey there, Bug. I’m not sure if you heard but Steve and I have come up with a name for you, are you ready? You’re gunna be named Mason Alexander, if you’re a boy, and Mason Alexandra if you’re a girl. I suppose you already know that which name applies, but we’ll find out soon enough!” Tony whispered, rubbing Steve’s belly gently.  
  
“Mm, what’r you doin’?” Steve asked, slowly waking from his sleep, and causing the brunet to freeze right in his tracks.  
  
“I uh….nothing…” Tony answered, hoping his voice didn’t sound nearly as high pitched as he thought it did.  
  
“You’re lying,” Steve said, shifting to sit up, “your voice always does this high pitched thing when you lie.”  
  
The alpha cursed under his breath, which earned him a smile from the blond.  
  
“You were talking to Bug, weren’t you?” Steve asked, a knowing smile growing on his face.  
  
“I...no! You know, you can’t just go around throwing all these wild accusations at people! That’s how you end up getting sued.”  
  
“Oh, really,” the omega challenged, “you’d sue me, even though you’re the one rubbing all over my belly while I’m unconscious?”  
  
Tony opened his mouth but immediately closed it once he realized Steve was right.  
  
“Ok, so maybe I wouldn’t sue you then. But how do you know for certain that I was actually doing any of the stuff you’re alleging that I did.”  
  
Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
  
“Tony, I’m a pretty light sleeper. There’s no way I’d sleep through you talking, right by my ear mind you, let alone you rubbing my belly.”  
  
"So...you've known about this?"  
  
"Yep. The whole time," Steve answered, now with an amused smile.  
  
"Why didn't you say anything," Tony asked, not even trying to hide the defeat he felt finding out his secret wasn't a secret at all.  
  
"Because," Steve began, now looking down at his stomach, "Bug and I spend all day every day together. I have endless opportunities to have private conversations with this baby. I just figured it'd be nice if you got to have that too."  
  
It was moments like this, when Steve seemed to be sweeter than normal, thinking about the alpha and their baby first, that gave Tony a fierce sense of protectiveness. When he first felt this, he tried running from it, but over time as he saw Steve's belly grow larger, signifying that their baby was growing as well, all he wanted was to give them both the world.  
  
"Well, thank you for that. I'm probably still gunna keep talking to Bug while you're asleep though, since we’ve already got such a good thing going,” Tony offered, giving an apologetic shrug.  
  
“I’ve dealt with it for this long, so what’s five more months of pretending to be asleep while eavesdropping on your conversations?!”  
  
“You know, people tried to tell me you’re sassy, but I just don’t see it at all!”  
  
Steve simply replied with a smile and his middle finger, bringing out a small fit of laughter from the alpha. Once he’d stopped laughing, Tony moved to stand up.  
  
“Alright, well I guess I should be heading out now then. Get some rest you two, and I’ll see you both tomorrow.”  
  
Tony leaned in to give Steve a kiss on the forehead, resting one hand on the omega’s shoulder and the other on his belly before leaving. Once he’d left the apartment building, he looked at his phone to see that it was still a little early for him to turn in. Without giving it much thought, he dialed Carol’s number, then waited as it rang.  
  
“Do my eyes deceive me? Am I really being graced with a phone call from the Tony Stark?! Am I finally worthy?!” Carol answered in some sort of old English accent.  
  
“What the fuck, Carol, I literally talked to you earlier today.”  
  
“You asked me for a piece of gum, that’s hardly a riveting conversation.”  
  
Tony gave a sigh, legitimately questioning why he ever called her when he was bored.  
  
“Look, I just left Steve’s and I wanted to see if you were busy.”  
  
“It’s 8 on a Tuesday night. Rhodey is out to dinner with his college fraternity friends, and I’m cuddled up on the couch watching Investigation Discovery. You know damn well I’m not busy,” Carol responded.  
  
Tony knew that was as close to an invitation to come over as he was going to get from the blonde, and though he knew she couldn’t see it, he rolled his eyes anyway.  
  
“Okay, then I’ll be over in fifteen.”  
  
“See you then,” Carol replied before hanging up.  
  
Tony liked the fact that Steve lived so close to Rhodey and Carol, mainly because he could just walk to one place right after visiting the other. He usually used the walk to clear his head and really think about everything that he had going on in life. He was currently thinking about all that had changed over the past few months between him and Steve. They’d fallen into this routine, of acting the part of a bonded couple expecting their first child, and yet, only one of those three things applied. Tony didn’t even want to thinking about bonding, but he definitely wouldn’t mind if he and Steve became a couple. But with all that was happening, he just wasn’t sure what to do.  
  
By the time he got to Carol and Rhodey’s doorstep, Tony was already keyed up and ready to spill all of his thoughts in exchange for advice. He knocked twice before the door swung open to reveal Carol, wearing a sweatshirt and workout shorts.  
  
“You didn’t have to get all dolled up for lil ol’ me,” Tony said, walking into the apartment and taking note of the Chinese take out on the living room table.  
  
“Fuck you, man. Tuesdays are the only day I get to come home and be a gross lazy slob. Don’t ruin that for me,” Carol spoke, plopping back down on the couch, and snuggling up under her blanket.  
  
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Tony replied, picking up one of the takeout containers to pick over what little was left.  
  
They sat on the couch together, silently, watching some crime show, intently. Once the episode was over, Carol turned to look at Tony before giving him a slight kick.  
  
“So, what’d you want to talk about?” She asked, smiling at the grimace Tony gave in response to being kicked.  
  
“I dunno, just...Steve things,” Tony responded, rubbing the area where he’d just been kicked.  
  
“Oh, okay. Well have you guys bonded yet?” Carol asked, nonchalantly.  
  
Tony choked on air at that question. Once he was able to stop coughing, he looked at his friend, stunned.  
  
“Are you kidding me right now, Carol? That’s such a personal question!”  
  
The blonde looked at Tony, unfazed by his bewilderment.  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry. You came to me a few months ago, openly telling me that Steve managed to miss all the signs that he was going into heat, you randomly show up and decide to be the friend that fucks him through it, you end up knotting and getting him pregnant, but somehow _I’m_ out of line asking if you’ve bonded? Forgive me for offending your delicate sensibilities,” Carol said, incredulously.  
  
“I genuinely don’t know why I continue talking to you. Every time I come to you for anything, this is what happens and yet I keep coming back hoping you’ll have dialed down the crazy just a little bit,” Tony replied, draping his arm over his eyes as he sat back on the couch.  
  
They sat in silence again for a moment. He knew Carol wasn’t going to say anything until he answered her question.  
  
“We haven’t bonded, okay? Truth be told, I doubt we will. I mean...I don’t really think much about it, mainly because I’m just so confused all the time about what we are right now,” Tony finally answered.  
  
“What do you mean?” Carol asked, now lowering the TV volume and giving the brunet her full attention.  
  
“I mean...we’ve got this sickeningly sweet domestic set up going on. More often than not, we have dinner together at either his place or mine, then we cuddle up and watch TV together. He usually falls asleep, head in my lap and hand on his belly, and then I sit there talking to Bug until I fall asleep or he wakes up and one of us leaves. For God’s sake, I kissed him on the forehead when I left tonight and told the two of them to get some rest. We’re not even dating, and yet, to look at us you’d think we’re this jolly bonded couple waiting on the arrival of their baby. It’s confusing and...and…” Tony stumbled, looking for the right word.  
  
“Frustrating?” Carol asked, completing his sentiment.  
  
“Yes, very much that. I just don’t really know where we stand and I mean...I’m more than happy continuing on the way things are if that’s what makes him comfortable, because really I’m just glad to have anything with him. But I also kind of just wish we could define things. It’s also just so weird experiencing all of this. I mean, I was the only kid my parents had so of course I wasn’t able to witness them go through this, but, I’m slowly starting to understand the appeal of having a bond mate.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
“Yeah. There are days when I look at Steve doing the most mundane thing and I have this crazy need to protect him and Bug. Like I want to stand on a roof and let the world know that they’re mine. The thought of being bonded is legitimately terrifying to me, but it seems like it’s bringing out the best in both of us. Looking back on my parents, it seemed to do nothing but the opposite. They never seemed happy, it just seemed like they were stuck. And the thought that maybe the same thing could happen to me is what scares me.”  
  
Tony sat there, silently willing Carol to say anything, instead of letting his words linger.  
  
“Okay, well, before all of this started, with Steve and Bug, getting you to share your feelings, let alone your fears, was like pulling teeth. I didn’t even ask for that extra stuff you just shared. You just threw it in for good measure. I feel like that’s a sign that Steve’s good for you. Yeah your parents had a shit relationship but you’re your own person. You don’t have to let their mistakes be yours too.”  
  
Tony let Carol’s words sink for a moment. He’d been so busy trying to run from the mistakes that his parents made, he hadn’t had time to realize that he didn’t have to run at all.  
  
“See, this is why I talk to you. No matter how much lip you give me, you end up churning out something useful in the end. I don’t care what Rhodey says about you, you’re really not that bad!”  
  
That comment earned the brunet another kick to the side, but this time he just laughed it off. For all that she’d done for him, Tony figured that putting up with her antics was the least he could do.  
  
\---  
  
Steve stood in the middle of Natasha and Bucky’s living room, bobbing his head along to the beat of the song playing. He looked up to see Natasha moving along to the same beat. She gave him one small nod that he returned before they both hit a pose.  
  
“Every little thing I do, never seems enough for you. You don’t wanna lose it again, but I’m not like them. Baby when you finally, get to love somebody, guess what...it’s gunna be me,” both of them sang in unison as they danced around. When the song ended, they fell to the floor, laughing uncontrollably.  
  
Bucky came walking into the living room, looking down at the pair and shaking his head.  
  
“You guys are too fucking weird,” the brunet spoke, walking into the kitchen for a drink.  
  
Steve continued to laugh, feeling the sides of his stomach begin to ache. It had been years since he and Natasha danced around, singing along to their favorite boy bands. But Natasha randomly invited him for a sleepover, so it only made sense this would happen.  
  
“I’m really glad we did this, I’ve missed you lately,” Natasha spoke, moving to rest her head on Steve’s chest where they lay on the floor.  
  
“Yeah, I feel like with all this craziness going on, we haven’t really had a chance to spend time together,” Steve offered, wrapping an arm around the redhead's shoulders.  
  
“Well, you are kind of busy growing a baby and all, so I’ll let it slide.”  
  
“You’re far too kind,” Steve replied, jokingly, before yawning.  
  
He truly had missed spending time like this with his friends, he hoped that as his pregnancy went on he’d be able to find a way to balance his life with his friends and he new life with Tony and their baby. That thought made Steve’s heart skip a beat, not without Natasha noticing.  
  
“What are you thinking about?” Natasha asked, sitting up on her elbow to look down at the omega.  
  
“Just...how nice it would be for Tony, Bug and I to be a real family. I mean we both love this baby with everything we have, but…” Steve trailed off.  
  
“You wish Tony loved you too,” Natasha finished for him.  
  
Steve couldn’t bring himself to verbally confirm her statement, but he knew he didn’t have to.  
  
“Do you love him?” Bucky asked, startling the two on the floor as he took a seat behind them on the couch.  
  
Steve considered the question for a moment. He slowly placed a hand on his belly, a gesture he had started doing when nervous or unsure.  
  
“I...yes?” he asked, still not quite sure of himself “I mean...I think I do anyway. We haven’t bonded or anything like that, but...I think that I want to.”  
  
Steve could see the quick look that Natasha exchanged with Bucky, before she sat up to give the blond her full attention.  
  
“Have you talked to Tony about this?” the redhead asked, softly.  
  
“Definitely not. I don't want to scare him away if this isn't something he wants or if he's not ready," Steve answered truthfully.  
  
“Look, I’ve seen the way you guys act around each other,” Natasha started, “you gave him a goodbye kiss when you thought no one was looking that night we had the movie marathon at your place.”  
  
“Yeah, and I’ve seen you guys holding hands when you think we can’t see. But even more than that, we’ve all seen the way he looks at you,” Bucky chimed in.  
  
“I’m sure a lot of that is coming from the fact that I’m carrying his baby, more so than anything else.”  
  
Both of his friends gave him a look silently asking _Really? Is that honestly what you think_? Steve didn’t want to continue the conversation, knowing he wouldn’t be able the deal with the hurt of possibly being let down in the future.  
  
“Alright, guys look, as much as I would absolutely _love_ to continue talking about this, I should probably go to sleep. I have a rather important appointment in the morning.”  
  
Bucky just shrugged and stood up, leaning to give Natasha a kiss, and the omega a fist bump.  
  
“Well since you all are having your sleepover, I’ll leave you to it. Good luck tomorrow.”  
  
As Bucky left for his room, Steve and Natasha cuddled up on the makeshift bed that they’d put together earlier. While his eyes were closed and he began drifting off, Steve couldn’t help but wonder what the next day would have in store for him and his new confusing but amazing family.  
  
\---  
  
Tony sat in bed awake, nervously waiting for his alarm to go off at 7 am. He had been laying there all night too anxious to sleep, wondering what today would have in store for him. Ever since he had missed that first appointment where they got to see and hear Bug’s heartbeat, Tony had been terrified of missing any other big milestones. It is because of that first experience that he sat awake the night before every single appointment Steve had, in an effort to avoid over sleeping.  
  
The second he heard his phone go off, Tony jumped up and made his way to the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee while he got ready. He showered and dressed quickly, managing to have fifteen minutes to spare before he needed to leave for the doctor’s office. As he sat at his kitchen island, taking the time to enjoy his cup of coffee, a text came through on his phone. Tony read the message and smiled, immediately.  
  
_Can’t wait to see you and Bug today :)_  
  
The text from Steve read. Tony sometimes couldn’t handle how adorably sappy the omega was, but it always made him grow impossibly more attached to him. After his talk with Carol, Tony had began to think a little harder about his feelings for Steve. He figured he owed it not only to himself but to their baby as well to be honest about the fact that he was falling in love with the man who was carrying his child. He wanted to pretend as though he had any control over it, and that this wasn’t the case, but with every passing day, it became clearer and clearer.  
  
Tony called a cab, then went out onto his porch to wait for it. Standing there, he started to feel the nerves getting to him. Today was the day that he was going to find out whether he’d be having a son or a daughter and that made his heart beat a little faster with excitement. Once his cab arrived, Tony sent a response to Steve’s text.  
  
_I can’t wait to find out if Bug is a boy or girl! Most exciting day ever!_  
  
He sat in silence for the entire ride, looking out the window to survey the world around him. Spring was coming soon, and even though it’d still be cold for a while in New York, things were starting to look a lot less cold and bleak. Tony genuinely loved this time of year, but now, with a baby to look forward to, things just seemed a little brighter.  
  
Once he pulled up to the hospital, a large smile spread across Tony’s face, as he saw Steve standing there waiting.  
  
“Hey there,” the omega said, giving a smile of his own.  
  
“You ready for today?” Tony asked, opening the door for the blond.  
  
“Yeah..I think so,” Steve responded, placing a gentle hand on his belly, “I’m just really excited to see Bug again.”  
  
Tony found a chair in the waiting room while Steve went to check in. The blond came back, seemingly happier than before.  
  
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Tony asked, once Steve sat beside him.  
v “We get to see my favorite of all the doctors today,” Steve answered.  
  
During each visit, they had seen a different doctor, to get acquainted with the delivery staff in the event that the doctor of their choosing isn’t able to help deliver their baby.  
  
“Who’s the doctor?” Tony asked, looking over some of the forms the omega was filling out.  
  
“Dr. Banner. He was the doctor I saw for the first sonogram, and he’s been my favorite by far.”  
  
Tony’s ears perked up at that name. He wondered if it was possible that this doctor was the same person he was thinking of, but he figured that couldn’t be the case. Once they were called into the exam room, though, he quickly realized that the doctor was indeed the man he thought of.  
  
“Bruce....BRUCE!” Tony called out upon seeing the doctor.  
  
He jumped up and wrapped his arms around the man , soliciting a somewhat started grunt out of him.  
  
“Tony? You’re Steve’s alpha?! I had no idea,” Bruce spoke, taking a step back to readjust his coat and his glasses.  
  
“I uh...well that’s actually a bit of a long story, but I had no idea that you were working in New York. When did that happen?”  
  
“Oh, well I’ve been at this hospital since the beginning of January…”  
  
Steve cleared his throat, causing both of the brunets to look at him.  
  
“I’m sorry, but...am I missing something here? How do you two know each other?  
  
Steve asked, confused.  
  
Tony just smiled at Bruce, then turned to smile at the omega.  
  
“Bruce and I went to MIT together. We’ve tried to keep up over the years and see each other when we can. Now that he’s living here, we’ll definitely be seeing more of each other. Also, how come it’s taken this long for me to find out you were here?” Tony asked, now turning his attention back onto the doctor.  
  
“I uh…” Bruce started, “it’s been kind of hectic getting my bearings at this new hospital. I’ve been on call a lot lately and helping with a lot of deliveries so I haven’t had much free time.”  
  
“Well, when you have some free time, we will need to catch up,” Tony stated, making it clear that bruce didn’t have much of a choice.  
  
“Definitely...now are you guys ready to see the baby and find out what you’re having?” Bruce asked, eager to get the attention off of himself.  
  
The appointment was conducted with very little conversation, outside of the routine questions about how Steve was doing. They were all seemingly excited to get to the biggest part of the day. Once Bruce began the ultrasound, Tony sat in a seat beside the exam table, holding Steve’s hand. The room was absolutely silent, save for the whir of the machines.  
  
“Alright guys,” Bruce began, “here’s the baby. Everything is looking great so far. Her heartbeat is strong, and she seems to be healthy and growing normally.”  
  
Everything stopped for a moment as soon as Bruce’s words registered.  
  
“Did you just...did you just say _she_?” Steve asked, barely above a whisper.  
  
“Indeed I did. You two are having a little baby girl. Congratulations!”  
  
Tony didn’t even realize he had began to cry until he felt a tear drop onto his hand. He quickly moved to wipe at his face, turning to see the Steve practically beaming.  
  
“I’ll give you two a minute while I go print your sonogram and get your appointment overview,” Bruce spoke, standing to leave the room.  
  
The second they were alone, Tony reached out to lay a hand on Steve’s belly.  
  
“A girl...we’re having a baby girl. Did you hear that, Bug...Mason? You’re a girl!”  
  
Steve let out a small laugh through the tears of joy that he was crying in earnest.  
  
“Tony, we’re going to have a daughter. Natasha, Pepper and Carol are going to absolutely love this.”  
  
The alpha thought about what life would be like, watching Mason grow up with three of the strongest women he’d ever met, and he couldn’t help but laugh as well.  
  
“God, she’s going to grow up to be an absolute badass with them around. With all of our friends around.”  
  
Tony kept his eyes on Steve’s belly, only looking into the omega’s eyes when he laced their fingers together.  
  
“Mason Alexandra Rogers-Stark. This is...Tony this is _our_ daughter.”  
  
The brunet slowly leaned in to kiss the man laying in front of him, before resting his forehead against Steve’s. They sate there like that for several minutes, soaking up the bliss of finding out that their baby was a girl. Tony knew that there was no going back after this, but he didn’t care. Sitting there, one thought went through his mind over and over again.  
  
_Mason is my daughter, Steve is my omega...this is my family._


	9. Chapter 9

Ever since finding out that they were having a girl, Steve had been on cloud nine. Everything in the world seemed a little better and a little brighter, knowing that in a few months, he’d be bringing a little life into existence. Day in and day out, it seemed as though he and Tony continued to get closer, without even trying. Days would go by where they would stay at each other’s apartments, sleeping side by side, fingers intertwined and resting atop of their little girl. Though at times it seemed that they were far from bonding, Steve truly felt as though they were becoming a real family.  
  
Almost immediately after finding out the sex of their baby, Tony wanted to start planning a baby shower. Seeing him become an excited father to be really put things in perspective for Steve. He hadn’t doubted Tony’s feelings or loyalty for some time now, but seeing him like this really solidified for Steve the fact that the alpha would go to hell and back for their baby and stop at nothing to keep them both safe. Knowing that, and seeing that in Tony, more than anything, assured it in Steve’s mind that he wanted to commit to the brunet.  
  
He knew that at some point he’d have to bring this up, but over the course of the month and a half that they spent planning their baby shower and just enjoying the excitement of their impending parenthood, Steve noticed that Tony seemed a little on edge about something.  
  
"Hey," Steve spoke, slightly waddling out to kitchen, "Is everything ok? You seem like you've had something on your mind lately."  
  
Tony was hard at work, trying to repair one of his old laptops at the table. His movements immediately faltered at Steve's question. The alpha gave a sigh before looking up and motioning for the blond to take a seat.  
  
"Alright, so, honestly I’ve been avoiding bringing this up for months now,” Tony started, causing all of the blood to drain from Steve’s face, “but...uhm...you’ve heard of Stark Industries before, right?”  
  
“Yeah, you mean the biggest government contracting manufacturer in the country? What about them?” Steve asked, making sure to give Tony his absolute full attention.  
  
“What would you say if I told you that I part of the Stark in Stark Industries?” Tony asked, nervously.  
  
To that, Steve just gave a small smile as he realized what was going on.  
  
“I would say, that I’ve known exactly who you were since the first day I met you.”  
  
“You...wait, what?” Tony stammered, surprised.  
  
“Yeah, the first day we met, I may or may not have Googled you to find out a little more about you.Admittedly, I tried looking you up on Facebook and when I couldn’t find you, I turned to Google. Almost immediately I found articles talking about you, your father, and Stark Industries.”  
  
Tony sat there for a few minutes, silently taking in Steve’s words.  
  
“You’ve known the whole time, and that didn’t impact the way you treated me or what you thought of me?”  
  
The way he asked that question was enough to break Steve’s heart.  
  
“Of course not. Just because your dad owns a successful company and your family has a lot of money doesn’t mean I know anything about who you are as a person. For a while I actually thought you were such a jerk to me because you were the stereotypical entitled rich kid. But then I got to meet the real you that night at your Halloween party, then I knew I had been wrong about you all along.”  
  
“Wow...well, uhm...okay, thanks,“ Tony spoke, clearly still a little shocked.  
  
“So is that all that’s been on your mind lately?” Steve asked.  
  
“Oh, well I found out a few weeks ago that my dad’s requiring that I go to the biennial Stark Symposium that’ll be a week, and then dear old dad is forcing me to stay out there another week to help out with a few things. So, thanks to this...I’ll be missing the baby shower.”  
  
That last statement hurt a bit to hear, but Steve could see how pained Tony was just having to say it. So he out on a brave face and shrugged.  
  
"As much as it sucks to hear you won't make it, it'll be ok. You've got big important business guy stuff to do, Bug and I understand!"  
  
Tony gave an apologetic smile, before moving to kiss the omega on the forehead.  
  
"Honestly, I don't know how I got so lucky to have you willingly put up with my shit."  
  
"Just make sure you bring us back an awesome souvenir and we'll be fine!" Steve responded, giving a content hum at the feel of the alpha's lips.  
  
"Alright, well I'm going to go register for more baby stuff with Pepper, Natasha and Carol," Steve said, maneuvering to get up out of his seat.  
  
"Nah, I'm going to hit the gym a little later with Bucky and Rhodey. Will you be coming back here tonight?" Tony asked, hopeful.  
  
It always warned Steve's heart when this happened.  
  
"I was thinking of going to my place tonight. I kind of miss my bed and all of my stuff."  
  
"Oh...ok then," Tony responded, visibly defeated.  
  
Steve just shook his head and smiled.  
  
"So, what time can I expect you?" The omega asked.  
  
Tony's face lit up at the invitation, garnering a laugh out of the blond.  
  
"Just text me when you're on your way," Steve spoke, before going to collect his things to be ready for the girls when they arrived.  
  
The second he heard them pull into the drive through, Steve moved as quickly as he could, stopping to give Tony a kiss at the top of his head before leaving the house. As he walked to the car, excitement and happiness bubbling inside of him, Steve thought to himself that he knows now, for sure, that Tony is it. The alpha feels like home to him, and he never wanted to let that feeling go.  
  
\---  
  
Tony sat on the private jet that his father insisted on sending to get him, thinking. Thinking about how badly he didn't want to go to this symposium, thinking about how badly he would miss his friends while he was gone, and thinking about how badly he currently wanted a drink to take the edge off. Mostly, though, he was thinking about what Steve had said when the alpha told him about this trip.  
  
_I’ve known exactly who you were since the first day I met you._  
  
In all of Tony’s years on this earth, he’d never experienced this before. He had never had someone in his life, who was even remotely interested in him romantically, who wasn’t also very interested in his name and his money. He had gotten so used to the idea that he wouldn’t ever find someone that didn’t see him as a bank account, that now it seemed almost impossible. But as unbelievable as it seemed, here was Steve, perfect as always, letting Tony know that he could care less who his father was or how many buildings his name was on. All that matter to him was the alpha himself, and what do you know? Wasn’t that just the most heartwarming realization.  
  
Tony had been beside himself thinking about what Steve’s words meant to him, and as he sat on that jet, dreading what the next two weeks had in store for him, he came to the conclusion that Steve was it. Steve was the one he was meant to bond with, and Tony was a little more than excited and terrified about it. He decided to close his eyes and rest up before the actual nightmare he was sure that time around Howard would be, but as he faded off to sleep, Tony had the hope of bonding with Steve once he got home at the forefront of his mind.  
  
-  
  
Tony woke up with a start as the jet began it’s descent. He took a few deep breaths, trying to brace himself, not for landing, but for the shit sow that his greeting with Howard was sure to be. He had gone out of his way to stay under the radar and just evade Howard at every turn while he was living in New York, so the fact that he was being called to stay in California, to pretend as if he had any hand to play in Stark Industries at all, made him a little more than pissed off. Once the plane came to a stop on the tarmac, Tony gave a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, and eventually mustering up enough willpower to get off the plane.  
  
He hadn’t had his foot on solid ground for more than a minute, before he heard his father’s voice.  
  
“Well hello there, only child of mine who, for some reason, refuses to ever speak to me. Nice to see you again.”  
  
Tony cringed at the sound of Howard’s snark and sarcasm. He turned and gave his most obviously fake smile.  
  
“Howard Stark, the man, the myth, the absolute nightmare. How have things been out here in California for you? Making the lives of those around you a living hell, I presume?”  
  
Howard rolled his eyes at Tony, pushing past him to walk towards the car that was waiting for them.  
  
“Listen, you’re going to be here for a whole two weeks. I would much rather you hold off on being an insufferable brat at least until closer to the end of your trip.”  
  
“I’d rather the end of my trip be right now, but it looks like neither of us are going to have what we want,” Tony offered, noting the twitch in his father’s jaw that indicated he was very annoyed.  
  
That small unintentional display that let the alpha know he’d gotten under Howard’s skin was enough to tide him over, at least until they got home. Walking around, Tony took in his surroundings and frowned.  
  
“Didn’t take you long to get rid of every trace of mom, huh?” Tony asked, looking at the walls that used to house paintings that meant the world to his mother.  
  
“I did some redecorating after she passed, so sue me,” Howard responded, callously, “we don’t need to waste time talking about that nonsense. We have bigger issues to discuss.”  
  
Tony felt a rage bubbling inside him at that point.  
  
“I’m sorry, but mom dying and you erasing every inch of her from this house isn’t nonsense. She was you wife. For some ungodly reason, she chose to bond with you and to marry you. You treated her like garbage when she’s alive, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that you’d treat her like garbage now, but I genuinely never expected this from you.”  
  
Howard calmly walked the the bar at the end of the living room, pouring two glasses of whiskey before moving to sit in his large arm chair. He placed the second glass of whiskey on the living room table, motioning for Tony to come and have a seat. The brunet reluctantly obliged, taking a sip of the amber liquid in his glass.  
  
“You come here and immediately start attacking me, making all of your accusations,” Howard began, “but what I want to know, what I want to ask is why you didn’t think it important enough to tell me that I’m going to be a grandfather.”  
  
Tony’s heart stopped immediately at the question.  
  
“What?” He asked, not actually certain he had heard correctly.  
  
“You think you can hide the fact that you got someone pregnant from me? That I wouldn’t find out what my own son, the heir of the company I built with my own to hands, is up to?”  
  
Tony’s mind began racing. He didn’t know what to do or say in that moment.  
  
“Who is she?” Howard asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible, which Tony knew meant trouble.  
  
“You dug up all that dirt on me to find out I’m having a baby, but out couldn’t figure out that it was with a guy?”  
  
The look of shock and anger on Howard’s face was enough to send fear through every part of Tony’s being.  
  
“I let you go out there to work at that measly creative firm, walking around as if you aren’t the son of one of the most important men in America. I gave you the chance to get all of this foolishness out of your system before having to take over my company. I let you make an absolute ass of yourself time and time again, and this...this is how you repay me? It is one thing for you to knock up some omega, but it’s another thing entirely for you to be with a man. There is absolutely no way that any son of mine will be gay.”  
  
Tony scoffed at Howard’s words.  
  
“News flash, Howie, I already fucked a guy and got him pregnant. We’re keeping the baby, regardless of what you think. Plus, I’m 27 years old. We’re past the point of you running my life.”  
  
“Not when my money is what finances that life,” Howard barked, standing in anger.  
  
“You’re kidding me, right?” Tony laughed, “I haven’t touched the money you sent me in over five years. The house that I have, I bought with my own money, everything I’ve used to furnish said house, I bought with _my_ hard earned money. There isn’t a single part of my day to day life that I have paid for using what you’ve given me. So you can fuck right off with that bull shit.”  
  
At this point, Howard was seething. Tony hadn’t seen the man this angry since the day he stated that his mother was better off dead than continuing to live with Howard as a husband. The older man stalked over and stood in front of Tony as he sat in his chair. Howard braced his hands on the arms of the chair, leaning in close to Tony’s face.  
  
“You think you can distance yourself from me, from my name, from my legacy? You think you could do so much better without me? Let me tell you, Anthony, you’ve never been more wrong in your life,” Howard spoke, in an angry whisper, “You’re a failure as a son, and you’ll be an even bigger failure as a father. You’ll never be worth anything to your baby or the whore of an omega you’ve knocked up. I can promise you that just like you’ve done in every other relationship you’ve ever had, all you’ll do is bring them disappointment. That’s the only thing you excel at.”  
  
“ _Fuck you_ ,” Tony spat out, now shaking with anger.  
  
Howard just stood back with a somewhat pleased look on his face, and crossed his arms.  
  
“I’ll call a car to take you to a hotel downtown for the rest of your stay here. I expect to see you at the symposium first thing in the morning, and if I don’t there will be hell to pay,” Howard warned before walking away.  
  
Tony felt the burn of hot tears falling down his face the second he was alone. He wiped at them angrily, as he moved to collect his things. He went to wait outside for the car, and as he waited, he couldn’t help but give in to his father’s words. As much as he hated to admit it, deep down he knew Howard was right. There was no way he would be able to give Steve or Mason the life they deserved. With Howard’s words ringing over and over again, Tony made the decision to do what he had secretly always known he needed to do.  
  
\---   
Steve sat there, in a chair in the middle of Pepper and Happy’s living room, as some of his closest friends and co-workers doted on him. Today was the day of his shower, and though he was beside himself with excitement to be surrounded by those who cared about him and Bug most, he still wished that Tony could have been there.  
  
The alpha was set to return home in a couple of days, and while on his trip, he would text to check in as much as his busy schedule would allow, but Steve missed him immensely. There were times when Steve would think about Tony, and Bug would kick him, seemingly as hard as he could, and for a while, the omega thought his daughter was trying to let him know that she missed her dad just as much. Thought it seemed like she was trying to kick a hole in his stomach to escape out into the world, Steve really did cherish those moments, and promised to share the story with Tony the second he got home.  
  
Aside from telling the brunet just how much he was missed in his absence, though, Steve had been anxiously awaiting the moment when he could finally tell Tony that he wanted to be his bond mate. The thought was exhilarating and terrifying all at once, but after some extensive conversations with all of the women in his life; Natasha, Pepper, Carol and even Bug, Steve concluded that it was finally time. So, sitting there, in front of all those who were happy for he and the alpha and the arrival of their baby, Steve beamed, thinking about all that was to come.  
  
“Alright, now onto the gifts,” Natasha started, handing Steve his first box to open.  
  
He tore through the pastel colored wrapping paper with little finesse. Once he’d gotten down to the box and opened it, he felt he had to hold back tears almost immediately. In his hands was the absolute cutest little pastel purple dress the blond had ever seen. He looked up to survey those around him, wondering if the person who purchased the dress knew that his mother’s favorite color was purple. But upon receiving a slight nod from Bucky off at the far end of the group, Steve knew that this was meant to be a reminder that his mother was there with them, and would always be there with his daughter. He gave a small laugh, making no effort to hid the few tears that fell.  
  
“Well, clearly we’re off to a great start here,” Pepper spoke to the room, while reaching for a tissue to give to Steve, “Shall we continue?” She asked, wanting to make sure that Steve was ready to go on.  
  
“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks,” Steve spoke, wiping at his eyes, and giving a smile to signify that his response was sincere.  
  
The rest of the afternoon went on as such. Steve was brought to tears by nearly every single gift that he opened, for one reason or another. Ultimately, it was just overwhelming to realize that so many people cared for him and his daughter, and he shared that sentiment before all of their party guests left.  
  
“Listen, everyone, I just wanted to say I’m sorry I’ve been a blubbering mess, but it really does mean a lot to know that each and every one of you cared enough about us to come out and celebrate today,” Steve spoke, unconsciously placing his hand on his belly to emphasize who he meant by _us_.  
  
Carol and Pepper stood by the door to hand out favors and thank their guests as everyone left, while Steve moved to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water and to have a moment to himself. He sat at the window bench close to the back door, looking out at the beautiful Spring day, and sighed at just how amazing everything was in that moment.  
  
“Really nice out today, huh?” Bucky asked, coming to join the omega at the window.  
  
“Yeah..it’s...yeah,” Steve spoke, turning to look at his friend with a sad smile.  
  
“What’s on your mind? Seems like you were more sappy than usual in there. Were you crying over you last abs?” Bucky teased, jokingly.  
  
“Oh ha ha, Buck. My stomach may look like a huge pumpkin, but I could still kick your ass in the gym, so don’t you forget it!”  
  
Bucky put up his hands in surrender, giving a small laugh.  
  
“Alright, well then if that’s not it, what is it?”  
  
“I just...really wish my mom were here to see this. I know she’s always watching over me...us, but I wish she could meet Bug, y’know? Be here with me through all of this. There are some days when I worry over little things, wondering about this or that and I know if she were here she’d tell me to quit fussin’ and just enjoy this time while I have it.”  
  
“Is that all that’s got you so stressed?” Bucky asked, apparently better at reading Steve than the blond had thought.  
  
“Well…” Steve started, a little apprehensive to spill his thoughts, “when Tony comes home I’m going to tell him that whenever he’s ready, I think we should bond…”  
  
Steve expected some kind of shock or surprised expression from his friend, but all he got was a warm smile.  
  
“I think, if Sarah were here, she’d tell you to stop being such a damn worrywart and tell the man that you love him. And you know, I tend to agree with her on that.”  
  
In that moment, Steve felt a strong kick on the left side of his belly that was enough to make him jump.  
  
“Something wrong?” Bucky asked, seemingly worried.  
  
“Well it seems that Bug would agree with you and ma. Here, give me your hand,” Steve spoke, taking one of Bucky’s hands to place where he’d felt the first kick.  
  
He slowly moved the brunet’s hand, waiting. He felt another kick, this one much stronger than the last. The face Bucky made when he felt the push just beneath his hand was priceless.  
  
“Holy shit, that’s absolutely insane!” the alpha yelled, now taking both hands and placing them on Steve’s belly in an attempt to feel any more movement.  
  
The blond just laughed, but tried to stay as still as possible to give Bucky the best chance of feeling the baby. It was in moments like this, where it felt like nothing in life could get any better, that Steve felt thankful for everything that led him here. More specifically, he felt thankful for everything that led him to the man he knew was meant to be his bond mate.  
  
\---  
  
Tony hadn’t slept in days. Aside from Howard practically working him to death during his trip, he was anxious and worried about returning home. He had truly missed both Steve and Bug, but those feelings were paired with a sense of mourning now. Part of him had wanted to back out of what he had resolved to do, just be selfish and continue living the way he had been for the better part of six months now. But he knew that that would just be proving his father right.  
  
Ever since the conversation Tony had had with Howard, he had been pulling away more and more from Steve, in an effort to make this as clean of a break as possible when he got home. It was harder than he imagined, though, what with all the picture updates the omega would send, and the good morning/goodnight texts he would send every day. Tony wished he could just shut everything off and walk away, but he loved the man who was carrying his baby too much to just cut him out of his life.  
  
Tony was sitting in the back of a cab, wondering how he was going to break the news to Steve, as he made his way to their five month check up. All throughout the appointment, Tony stood beside the omega, holding his hand for support, but completely zoned out. He was sure that Steve could tell something was off, but the alpha just explained it away as sleep deprivation.  
  
Once the appointment came to an end, Steve invited Tony back to his place to look at some of the gifts they had gotten during the shower, and the burnet accepted. He figured then was as good a time as any to break the news. The whole ride home, Steve excitedly recapped the baby shower, even pulling out his phone to share pictures of everyone during some of the games they played. Looking at the joy on the blond’s face as he talked about the party made Tony’s heart ache, but he knew that no matter how hard this would be, he was doing the right thing.  
  
“Alright, so you wait here,” Steve began, moving Tony to the couch in his living room, “and I’ll go get all of Mason’s new things.”  
  
Tony grabbed Steve’s hand before he could walk off.  
  
“Wait,” the alpha spoke, softly.  
  
Steve looked at him, worried.  
  
“Is everything ok?” he asked, taking a seat on the couch as well.  
  
“There’s something I think we need to talk about,” Tony said, now feeling the nervousness overtake him.  
  
“Oh, ok. Well, if it’s ok, do you mind if I go first? Because there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk about for a bit now that I feel like I should probably put out there now.”  
  
Tony gave a small nod, feeling that the least he could do right now was oblige the omega before completely shattering everything. Steve took a deep breath before he began.  
  
“As you know, I’ve been pregnant for five months now, and I’ve had a lot of time to think about the situation we’ve found ourselves in. Initially, when I found out we were having a baby, I was absolutely terrified, as I’m sure you were too. But over the last several months, it’s dawned on me that even though this isn’t the most conventional way of things happening, that maybe we were meant to be brought together by by this baby.”  
  
It seemed as though Steve was trying to remember a speech that he had rehearsed.  
  
“What I’m trying to say is...I think maybe things have happened this way because we were meant to be together, and I was wondering if...I mean, when you’re ready of course, but I was wondering if you wanted to be my bond mate?”  
  
Tony’s eyes grew wide at that. He saw the sheer look of nerves on Steve’s face as he waited for a response, and he swore he could feel his heart breaking at that moment.  
  
“I...listen,” Tony began, visibly seeing how those two words immediately crushed the omega, “I care so much about you and Mason, you have to know that. But I just...I can’t be your bond mate, Steve.”  
  
Saying the words hurt him to the core, but Tony knew that this needed to be done.  
  
“Why not? I thought things were...I thought things were going well between us,” Steve stated, in a small voice.  
  
“They are, _were_. It’s just...I’m not...you don’t want to do this, not with me. Mason, she’s a gift, a literal gift, but you getting pregnant wasn’t some act of divine intervention bringing us together. It’s just something that happened, and as happy as I am that it did, it doesn’t meant that we should be bond mates.”  
  
“Why are you saying this, Tony?” Steve asked, now sounding as though he were on the verge of tears.  
  
In that moment, the alpha realized that if this was going to work he was going to have to be harsh to get his point across.  
  
“I’m saying it because it’s true,” Tony began, raising to his feet, trying to seem slightly angry.  
  
“It’s not, and you know it,” Steve responded, looking up at him with some sort of determination hiding behind his blue eyes.  
  
“Do I? A year ago, you hated my guts, and now you think we’re meant to bond and be together forever. If it weren’t for this baby, this wouldn’t be happening, and you know it. I’m not meant for this, Steve, I’m just not.”  
  
“Meant for what, exactly, hm?” the blond asked, now rising to his feet, “ for being a father, a husband or for being loved?”  
  
Tony took a deep breath, knowing what he said next would be the final twist of the knife.  
  
“I’m tired of playing house with you. Day in and day out, I’ve been pretending like this was all a life that was ever meant for me and it wasn’t! I wasn’t lying when I told you that you wouldn’t have to raise this baby alone, but the rest of it, all this domestic shit, pretending as though we’re some kind of old married couple who’d planned for all of this...I can’t. You deserve to bond with someone who can love you, and take care of you far better than I ever could.”  
  
Standing there, Tony could see the hurt pass over Steve face then turn to nothing but anger.  
  
“Fuck off, Tony. You want to stand there and pretend that you’re doing this as some kind of self-sacrificing act. As if you’re doing me a favor by letting go of whatever...this was, when in reality, you’re just a coward.”  
  
The words stung like a slap to the face, but Tony knew that he had to take it.  
  
“You’re so afraid of this that you’d rather run than fight,” Steve spoke, while walking to the door, “well if that’s what you want then fine. But don’t think that you get to have your cake and eat it too. Mason and I are a packaged deal, you don’t just get to throw me away and expect me to think you wouldn’t do the same to her.”  
  
Steve opened the door then, managing to wipe the tears from his eyes before they even fell.  
  
“Leave,” was all the omega said, before turning to look away from Tony.  
  
He wanted to tell Steve that he was wrong, that he’d never hurt Mason like this, but truth be told he didn’t even believe that right now. The second he stepped out of the apartment, the door slammed behind him. He held his head high as he walked to the elevator, waited in the lobby, and rode home in a cab. The second he locked the door to his house, though, he crumpled to the floor and let out a sob as he cried in earnest, reminding himself over and over again that no matter how much this hurt, he did the right thing.


	10. Chapter 10

Steve lay in bed, his six and a half month pregnant belly resting on the body pillow that he slept with, as his alarm continued to blare. It had been a month and a half since he and Tony split, and with every passing day, life seemed to get a little easier to manage.  
  
In the beginning, it felt as though he was mourning the alpha’s death. Once he had slammed the door behind Tony, he felt his entire world shatter. He had reached out to Natasha for comfort, mainly because he knew he couldn’t handle being alone, and once she arrived, he cried for what felt like days. Steve actually ended up taking off some time from work to wrap his mind around what had happened, and to begin to build himself back up, because as much as this hurt, and God did it _hurt_ , he needed to be strong for Mason. Steve was the only person he could trust at this point not to let her down, and he took that responsibility very seriously.  
  
It was because of that, because he was all his little baby girl had, that Steve continuously forced himself to get up every day. He fought for any bit of happiness he could find in all of the darkness, because he knew that his daughter deserved it. As hard as it was to remember, Steve knew, deep down, that he deserved it too. All he could do was tackle each day as they came and went, and if he smiled at least once every day, the omega counted it as a victory.  
  
The saving grace of all of this, though, was the fact that Steve knew he wasn’t going to have to go through this alone. Upon finding out what had happened, his friend, those he had known before his pregnancy as well as those he’d met through Tony, rallied around him, to remind him that even though it didn’t feel like it, he was loved. Initially, he had been wary of Pepper, Rhodey and Carol, suspicious that Tony had asked them to spy for him. But he quickly came to realize that they were there for him because they genuinely cared for him and Mason. Whether Tony was happy about that or not was beyond him, but frankly, Steve didn’t much care. He had bigger things to worry about now, than the alpha’s happiness.  
  
Steve stretched, as his alarm continued to wail. He sighed, realizing that his belly was now too big for him to be able to just reach an arm across his body to get to his phone. He pushed himself up into a sitting position on the bed, and leaned over to get the phone to turn off the alarm. He sat there for a moment, collecting himself before getting out of bed to shower. The day was meant to be a lazy day, what with it being Sunday and all, but Steve felt he still had so much to get done to ready his apartment for Mason’s arrival.  
  
Pepper had asked earlier in the week what colors he had planned for the nursery, and when he didn’t have an immediate answer, she vowed to right this apparent injustice.  
  
“Listen, you’ve been cooking that little cutie for six and a half months, and you hadn’t given any thought to what you wanted the nursery to look like?” Pepper asked, during her daily stop at his office in the morning.  
  
“No, not really” Steve replied, neglecting to mention that he hadn’t made any plans thus far because he had intended to make plans later with Tony.  
  
“Well, I’m going to get the other girls together on Sunday and we’re going to take you to brunch and then plan for your nursery. It’ll be a chance for all of us to get together and have some fun!”  
  
Steve readily accepted the invitation, knowing that it was something that needed to be done, but more so, knowing it wasn’t anything he wanted to do alone. He’d accepted any and all help from friends in the last few weeks, because though he had been adamant that he could do this alone, he knew that he would need all the help he could get while preparing for Mason.  
  
As Steve stood in his shower, he fumbled around for his shampoo, stumbling across the bottle that Tony had given him. Through all the pain of the alpha cutting ties with him, Steve still couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it. Though he hadn’t used it in some time, every so often, he would just smell it, the scent taking him back to a time when they had seemingly been happy. He quickly put the cap back on the bottle, and continued on getting ready. Twenty minutes later, Steve was dressed and ready to go. He called a cab and went outside to wait, basking in warm July morning air.  
  
As he stepped into the cab, he pulled out his phone to text the group to let them know that he was on his way.  
  
_Hey guys, be there in a bit._  
  
The omega messaged. Within a few seconds he got a text back from Carol.  
  
_Hurry up, I can’t wait to see that adorable belly of yours!_  
  
He gave a small laugh at that, genuinely appreciating how ridiculous Carol was on a daily basis. Steve looked out the window, admiring the buildings and the people, a view that seemingly never got old. As the cab came to a stop at a red light, Steve decided to browse the web on his phone to look for some nursery ideas before brunch. Once the cab began to move again, Steve looked up just in time to see the car before it slammed into them.  
  
\---  
  
Tony awoke, slowly, coming to for the first time in a long time without the aid of his alarm. He reached out to look at his phone to check the time before deciding that he might as well wake up now. Tony went through the motions of getting ready, showering, brushing his teeth, shaving and fixing his hair. Once he was done getting ready, the brunet looked at himself in the mirror, noticing that he looked as lifeless as he felt.  
  
In the months since he had ended things with Steve, it seemed as though the world had turned into nothing but this bleak, gray, joyless nightmare that Tony was forced to navigate through, alone. After being chewed out by just about everyone in his life, the alpha became extremely withdrawn. Though his closest friends tried to reach out to let him know that despite his absolutely idiotic life choices, they were still there to support him, he just couldn’t bring himself to fake being happy, not yet. It took some doing, but after what Tony could really only describe as friendly harassment, the alpha finally agreed to meet up with Bruce.  
  
He had opted to walk to the cafe where he was meeting the doctor, to clear his mind a little. It only took ten minutes from him to get there, and once he did, he Bruce sitting at a table, watching those walking by. Once his eyes landed on Tony, he gave a sad smile.  
  
“It’s good to see you again, Tony,” Bruce spoke, gesturing for the alpha to take a seat, “how have you been?”  
  
“Shitty, how about you?” Tony answered, making it clear that he wasn’t going to put any effort into faking happiness.  
  
“I’ve been alright...Look, I’m sure you know I’ve called you hear to talk to you about Steve,” Bruce stated, trying to tread as lightly as possible.  
  
“I assumed just as much, but you really shouldn’t waste your breath. There’s nothing you could say that hasn’t already been said on the matter,” Tony replied, looking through the menu on the table.  
  
“Tony, I know you think you can pull this tough guy act, where you can just pretend that nothing phases you, but you and I both know that’s bullshit. I know this has something to do with Howard,” Bruce began.  
  
Tony’s head snapped up, giving Bruce his full attention now.  
  
“I know this has something to do with Howard, because this is exactly what happened between you and I.”  
  
The alpha had kept it a secret from everyone that he and Bruce had began seeing each other for a short time while they were in college. Being that Bruce was the first guy he’d ever dated, as well as the first beta he’d ever dated, Tony wanted to keep their relationship to himself for a time. Eventually, he ended things after Howard had threatened to take everything his son had and make his life a living hell. Bruce understood the circumstances, and the two went on as just friends from that point on.  
  
“This is nothing like what happened back then,” Tony tried to lie.  
  
“You’re delusional if you think this is nothing like what happened back then,” Bruce responded. “we were never meant to be, that’s why it was so easy for us to let things die down, you know that as well as I do. But this...Tony, Steve was worth fighting for. He still is worth fighting for.”  
  
“I would have ruined your life if we’d stayed together, and I would have ruined his. As much as I hate Howard for being such an asshole, he was right when he said I’d do nothing but hurt and disappoint Steve and our daughter. Everybody’s hurting, but they’re better off this way.”  
  
“Have you ever stopped to think that your father just keeps putting these thoughts in your head because he wants you to be miserable?!” Bruce yelled, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose to calm himself down.  
  
“I...wait, what?” Tony stammered.  
  
“He’s doing this on purpose. Howard sees you happy and puts these ideas in your head to sabotage that.”  
  
Tony thought over the beta’s words, remembering back to the times in his life when he thought he had truly found happiness. In almost every case, Howard had managed to steal that happiness from Tony. For the first time, the alpha had realized that his own father was intent on making sure his life was as miserable as possible.  
  
“God, Bruce, I can’t believe this,” Tony spoke, looking absolutely stunned by this epiphany.  
  
“You still have time to make things right,” Bruce said, now with a kinder tone, “obviously it’s going to take some time, but Steve does miss you. He wanted for things to work out between you two, and I’m sure if you explain this all to him, he’ll understand --”  
  
Bruce was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone.  
  
“Sorry, one second,” he said, turning away to answer the phone.  
  
Tony tuned out, so as to not eavesdrop, but to also let everything sink in. He had made a colossal mistake, one that he wasn’t sure if he could fix, but Bruce’s words gave him hope that his relationship could be repaired. The alpha, turned his attention back to his friend, once he saw Bruce stand to leave hurriedly.  
  
“Hey hey, what’s the big rush?” Tony asked, confused.  
  
“You need to come to the hospital with me, now,” Bruce answered, moving towards the sidewalk to hail a cab.  
  
“To the hospital? Why? Bruce...Bruce! Will you tell me what’s going on?” Tony asked, grabbing the beta’s arm to stop him.  
  
Bruce gave Tony a look that made every single hair on his body stand on end.  
  
“It’s Steve,” Bruce spoke, “he was in a car accident and he’s been rushed to the ER. We’re going to have to deliver your daughter, today.”  
  
\---  
  
Steve didn’t know where he was or what was happening when he awoke. He tried to take inventory of everything, but he couldn’t move. All he knew was that his head and neck were killing him...actually his entire body was killing him. Though he probably had a laundry list of aches and pains at this point, nothing hurt nearly as bad as his lower stomach. It was at that realization that everything came back to him: he had been in an accident.  
  
Steve remembered looking up seconds before a car slammed right into his taxi. The car hit the driver’s side, opposite of where Steve sat, buckled in safely. He played the events back in his mind and as if in slow motion, he remembered the shattering of glass, the explosion of the driver’s airbag, the feeling of his seat belt buckling at his chest as he was thrust forward , and his head whipping to the left before slamming into the window causing everything to go black. Once he was able to recall what had happened, Steve began to panic. Where was he and why couldn’t he move?  
  
He could hear a lot of different things, but mainly, he could hear people practically screaming around him.  
  
“We need to prep him as soon as possible and get him into surgery,” one voice said, loudly, at his left.  
  
“Banner should be here shortly,” Another voice spoke, this time on his right.  
  
“Good. Brief him on the situation and make sure he’s prepared for the baby.”  
  
Steve suddenly grew impossibly more frantic at that last statement. They were talking about taking his baby, they were talking about taking Mason. Steve was six and a half months pregnant, barely just 27 weeks along. He wasn’t ready...she wasn’t ready. He began to wonder if something had happened to Mason during the accident. He wanted to move, to place his hand over his belly in an attempt to make sure she was ok, quickly being reminded that he didn’t actually have any control over his body at the moment. Steve felt his heart begin to break, then. All that mattered to him in the world was his daughter, and the thought that he hadn’t been able to keep her safe, the one thing he had been tasked with doing, was too much.  
  
Just then, Steve began to feel people poking and prodding at him. He felt the sting a needle being placed in his arm. He felt his eyes being manually opened, one at a time, but couldn’t see anything. Over the course of what felt like several minutes, his limbs were tugged at and positioned, and he was stripped of his street clothes in favor of something that felt like a gown. Steve could only assume that he was in an operating room, being prepared for a c-section, being prepared to have his sweet little girl brought into this world, not knowing whether either of them would ever get to meet.  
  
He was scared, terrified, of what was to come, but he felt extremely alone. Steve hadn’t given much thought to what he imagined Mason’s birth to be like, but he knew he had never even considered it could be like this. Sitting in a room, seemingly unconscious yet aware of his surroundings, with no one around that he trusted, to tell him that everything would be okay. He heard the clambering of people, talking about anesthetics, and once he lost feeling in the lower half of his body, he knew it wouldn’t be long before Mason was here.  
  
Steve tried to calm himself, to brace for what was to come, when he felt someone grab his left hand to intertwine their fingers. The hand felt familiar, it felt safe, but mostly, it felt like home. It didn’t take long for Steve to realize that the hand in question belonged to Tony. There was so much that he wanted to say to the alpha, his mind was racing with questions, but all he could do way lay there, listening to the world around him.  
  
“I’m so sorry,” Steve heard Tony whisper, “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to keep you both safe.”  
  
It sounded as though Tony was talking through tears, but there was no way to tell.  
  
“I’m here now, for you and Mason, and I’m never going to leave again. I promise I will keep you both safe for the rest of our lives.”  
  
Tony sealed his statement with a kiss to the omega’s temple and suddenly, Steve felt a calm come over him. Moments later, he felt a strange sensation over his lower stomach, then a lot of tugging. Tony’s hold on his hand became tighter as time went on, but suddenly, his hold loosened, and he seemingly shifted.  
  
“Oh god,” Tony spoke from afar.  
  
Steve heard a small sob escape from the alpha, before the man captured his face in his hands.  
  
“Steve, she’s here. Our little Mason Alexandra...she’s here, and she’s beautiful. They have to take her away to let Bruce set her up in the NICU, but my god, Steve...our daughter is absolutely perfect.”  
  
It pained Steve to know that he couldn’t see his daughter, he wasn’t even sure of when he would get to meet her. But hearing Tony talk about her, talk about Mason was an amazing feeling. As the doctors began their efforts to stitch him back up, Steve willed himself to wake up, to no avail. He wanted to let Tony know that he was awake, and that he was ok, but he just couldn’t get his body to move.  
  
Once he was finally out of surgery, and taken to his recovery room, Steve renewed his efforts to give some kind of indication that he was here with the brunet, who had taken up post now sitting on the right side of the bed. The room was silent, save for the beeping of the machines monitoring Steve’s condition. There was a soft knock on the door, to which Tony instructed the visitor to come in.  
  
“How’s he doing?” a voice that Steve identified as Bruce asked.  
  
“He got through the surgery alright, but he’s been unconscious since he arrived. They say his vitals are promising, so there’s nothing to worry about, I just...wish I could tell him that I’m here and that everything is going to be alright.”  
  
Steve heard Tony’s voice waiver, before he sniffled, indicating that he was holding back tears. Tony cleared his throat, before continuing on.  
  
“How’s Mason doing?”  
  
“Well, thankfully, we were able to assess her condition and get her set up in an incubator with everything that she’ll need to get her through the next several weeks.”  
  
“When can I see her?” Tony asked, eagerness evident in his voice.  
  
“Let me go check on some things, then we’ll get you set up to see her.” Bruce answered, before leaving the room.  
  
Steve wanted to wake up desperately, then. He wanted to jump out of that bed to let the world know that he was ok, and that he wanted to see his baby. He tried, or at least he felt that he had tried, but time and time again, his efforts got him nowhere. Steve felt Tony stand to press a kiss to his forehead.  
  
“I know that you probably can’t hear this, and this isn’t really the best time to do this, but...you were right. I was scared and I was running from my fears, but I’m ready now. I’m ready to be the father that Mason deserves and the bond mate that you deserve. I love you, Steve and when all of this is over, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”  
  
At that, Steve put everything he had into making sure Tony knew that his words were heard and that the omega felt the same way. Steve dug deep to muster all of the energy and strength he had, fighting through the pain that was threatening to take over. But suddenly, Steve felt the slight movement as he wiggled his fingers.  
  
“Steve?” Tony asked, clearly startled by the small gesture.  
  
The omega put forth more effort this time, and was able to loosely squeeze Tony’s hand.  
  
“Oh my god, Steve are you awake?”  
  
It took a few minutes, and more strength than he knew he even possessed, but Steve was finally able to open his eyes. The room took some time to come into focus but once it did, all Steve saw was the look of amazement and happiness on Tony’s face, as the man cried in earnest.  
v “Steve, you’re awake. You’re awake!” Tony said over and over again, as he peppered the blond’s face with kisses.  
  
Steve gave a small smile, still a little groggy, but managed get out the one thing he’d been wanting to say for months now. He looked into the eyes of the brunet and struggled to whisper.  
  
“I love you, alpha.”  
  
\---  
  
It had only been a matter of days since Steve’s accident, but in that time Tony had witnessed both the omega and their daughter make amazing progress. Steve had suffered a pretty serious concussion along with the multitude of minor injuries from the accident, but with every passing day, he fought harder and harder for the chance to finally get to meet Mason. It only took four days, and a big of begging on Tony’s part, before he was able to wheel Steve out of his hospital room and into the NICU, where Mason was resting in her incubator.  
  
“She’s absolutely amazing,” Steve spoke through tears, gloved hand outstretched to touch any part of Mason in her incubator that he could access.  
  
She stretched, giving a small yawn, and reached out to wrap her tiny fingers around Steve’s pinky. The omega turned to look at Tony, with a look of nothing but love and awe behind his teary blue eyes.  
  
“Did you see that?” Steve asked, trying to stay as still as possible, so as to not disturb Mason.  
  
“Looks like she’s excited to meet you too,” Tony offered, as he rubbed Steve’s back soothingly.  
  
“Well, hey there little Masie, you gave me quite a scare, showing up a little early, but I should have known that any child of Tony Stark’s would be intent on coming into this world with a big entrance,” Steve laughed, through tears.  
  
It wasn’t long after that exchange that the two made their way back to Steve’s hospital room, to allow Mason to be examined by Bruce, before continuing to rest.  
  
“I still can’t believe it. We get to be parents to the most amazing little girl this world has to offer. How did we get so lucky?” Steve asked, as Tony tucked him back into his hospital bed.  
  
“Honestly, I’ve been asking myself the same question, but not just about Mason,” Tony began, as he climbed onto the bed as well, “I don’t deserve either of you.”  
  
Steve nestled up to the alpha as they settled into the bed, knowing full well that any hospital personnel would have a fit if they saw the pair as they were. But neither of them cared.  
  
“Yeah, well, you’re stuck with me, whether you think you deserve me or not, so deal with it,” Steve replied, placing a hand on Tony’s chest.  
  
A few minutes passed before the alpha got the courage to ask what had been on his mind since Steve had woken up.  
  
“Are you sure about this? About me? We still haven’t bonded yet so if you’re having any doubts--”  
  
“Anthony Edward Stark, I am as sure about you as I am that I love our daughter with my whole heart. I don’t want anybody else in this world other than you, okay?”  
  
Tony laid a kiss at the top of Steve’s head at that.  
  
“Well, I guess I am stuck with you then, huh?”  
  
“Mmhmm,” Steve answered, clearly drifting off to sleep.  
  
Tony sat there with him, until his breathing became slower and more even. He pulled out his phone to check on the messages he had been ignoring throughout the day. Most all of them were just from their group of friends wishing both Steve and Mason a speedy recovery. But there was a lengthy text from Natasha, telling Tony that she and Bucky were on their way to relieve him of his duties.  
  
As if on cue, both Bucky and Natasha walked into the hospital room.  
  
"The guests of honor have arrived!" Bucky announced, in a loud whisper.  
  
Tony smiled, welcoming the presence of people who weren't doctors or nurses.  
  
"Glad to see some familiar faces," Tony spoke, slowly removing himself from the bed, making an effort not to stir the sleeping omega.  
  
"Yeah, we figured you guys might want some visitors," Natasha spoke, looking at both Tony and Steve sweetly.  
  
"Well, we definitely appreciate the two of you coming down here."  
  
"Oh, there's a lot more than just two of us," Bucky corrected with a smirk.  
  
Tony gave a confused look, only to be met with the faces of all their friends. Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, Carol, Sam and Clint piled into the small hospital room, all seeming highly pleased with their ability to surprise Tony.  
  
"How'd you all get in here? I thought they had a strict two visitor policy."  
  
"You know damn well there isn't a single person standing here that would let some shitty rule keep us from our best friends and their brand new baby," Carol explained.  
  
"Plus," Pepper added "we had some help from Bruce."  
  
The doctor appeared out of nowhere with a sheepish smile on his face.  
  
"I may or may not have a reputation around here for having legendary anger issues, so most of the personnel knows better than to tell me no when it isn't a life or death matter."  
  
Tony sat back in awe of those standing in front of him. Each and every single person in that room made up the only true family that Tony had ever known. He had never truly thought about it until now, but this was his pack. These were the people he will go to the ends of the world for and he knew then that they would do the same for him.  
  
"So, if you're done looking at us all sentimental like, we'd really like to see how adorable Bug is outside of Steve's Buddha belly," Clint spoke up from the back of the group.  
  
Without hesitation, almost everyone turned to punch him in either one of his arms.  
  
"Ow, what?! I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking!"  
  
Tony doubled over with laughter then.  
  
"Jesus, I never thought I'd live to see the day when I actually welcomed Barton's dumbass remarks," Tony spoke, wiping away a few tears of laughter, "look, just give me a minute, and then I'll lead the class on our little field trip."  
  
As their friends left the room, Tony turned back to the omega laying on the bed.  
  
"You're awake, aren't you?" Tony asked, moving to take a seat on the bed next to Steve.  
  
The blond kept his eyes closed but gave a sly smile.  
  
"Maybe. Also Clint is an idiot."  
  
"Why didn't you tell them you were awake."  
  
"Mainly because I like eavesdropping too much. Now to show them our little girl."  
  
Tony shook his head, smiling as he leaned in to kiss the man who'd given him _the_ most amazing gift. As he left the room to go show off his more that perfect daughter, Tony came to the conclusion that whether he was a fuck up for the rest of his life, at least he was Steve's fuck up, and that was something he could deal with.


	11. Epilogue

Thirteen weeks. That's how long Steve and Tony spend day in and day out waking up, spending hours on end watching as their daughter grew healthy enough and strong enough to come home. It was hard, knowing at the end of each day they would go home together, having to leave the one thing that made them feel whole, behind.  
  
They managed to pass the time, though, moving all of Steve's belongings into Tony's house. The day the omega was released from the hospital, Tony took him to his apartment, told him to pack his essentials, then promised they would come back to move the rest of his belongings. Steve just laughed at Tony's proposal but obliged. They had spent every single day together since.  
  
In the chaos of everything, the pair had managed to neglect to decorate a nursery for Mason, but their friends just assured them that everything would be taken care of. All they had to do was make sure Mason got better and came home.  
  
Once that day came, Steve and Tony were anxious, to say the least, but excited for their family to finally be whole. Placing her in her carseat was quite possibly the most nerve wracking thing, the pair of them taking turns in wondering if they had set everything up right, if she was comfortable, if a meteor would fall from the sky and strike their car on the ride home. Thankfully, none of their fears came to fruition, as they had quite possibly the most calm New York drive of their life.  
  
Taking Mason out of the car, they both began to gush to her about all the different details of the house. They pointed out every single area where she would surely make the best memories, where they would play with her and teach her everything that she knew. Finally, they made their way to Mason’s nursery, where their jaws hit the floor as they took in all that their friends had done.  
  
The room was enveloped in pastel yellows and purples, with a theme of owls and trees throughout. Steve and Tony walked around the room, making sure to show Mason all of the new things that those who loved them had put together for her. She looked at everything with wide eyes and excitement, but began to yawn and rub her eyes as the tour came to a close.  
  
“Well, I guess we should put her down for a nap then,” Tony spoke around a laugh at how adorably tired Mason seemed.  
  
Steve looked down at the little ball of adorable chubby baby in his arms and wondered over to their brand new rocking chair.  
  
“If it’s ok, I’d like to hold her, and maybe rock with her while she sleeps,” Steve stated, gently rubbing a hand over the brown peach fuzz that covered her head.  
  
Mason raised her blue eyes to look at Steve and gave a small smile at his request.  
  
“Alright, well if you get to hold her while she falls asleep, is it ok if I read her a story?” Tony asked, taking a seat in the rocking chair closest to the little bookshelf that had been filled with some of their favorite books.  
  
Steve gave a simple nod, as he gingerly moved to sit across from the alpha. It still felt so surreal to them, to realize that this is what their life would be like forever. They had finally found happiness and they were going to everything in their power to hold on to it until the end of their days. As Tony, cracked open his book and began to read the first few lines of _Guess How Much I Love You_ , both men felt content in knowing that life would be a beautiful, hot mess of an adventure, as long as they were together.


End file.
